


Mutated Ectoplasm

by HelplessLemon



Category: Danny Phantom, Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, But He Gets Better, But also, Character Death, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Major Character Undeath, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Quadrants Used, Review or Comment, Ships Kept as Surprise, Supernatural Elements, it's in chapter 2, other characters to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2021-04-17
Packaged: 2021-04-19 00:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 208,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21853825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelplessLemon/pseuds/HelplessLemon
Summary: Karkat Vantas was almost eighteen, when he entered a very strange machine. That was only the start of a whole list of problems.This was inspired by some fanart I saw once where Karkat was in a Danny Phantom scenario (don’t remember who made it though). It’ll start a like the show, but I’m not going beat by beat. Will be my own thing and will generally take plots from the show but in a more overarching story concept.Hard T due to cursing and violence.
Comments: 153
Kudos: 110
Collections: Mutated Ectoplasm: The Fandom Fusion





	1. Average Everyday

**Author's Note:**

> While it may be the first chapter, I'm not fully satisfied with this. However, I do think it'll get better when it starts moving along and stuff, especially when it comes to the worldbuilding. Hopefully you all enjoy and I ask that you leave reviews, positive or negative, whenever you can. I can't get better without proper criticism.

Karkat Vantas knew immediately it was going to be a _fantastic_ day the exact minute he woke up. Why you might ask?

Was it because he only got four hours of sleep last night because he had to redo a paper because he read the prompt wrong? Maybe.

Maybe it’s how he had a crick in his neck after sleeping at his desk after finally finishing the damn thing? Quite possibly.

** _BOOM_ **

Or could it be that he was woken up from said slumber after another of his dad’s experiments decided to go FUBAR and explode at the ungodly hour of six o’clock in the morning? _Abso-fucking-lutely_.

Karkat jumped, hitting his knee on the bottom of the desk with full force. A slew of curses flew out of his mouth as he slid away from the offending piece of furniture, cradling his leg. He glared at it for several seconds before sighing and putting his foot down on the floor.

“What in the Christ did Dad fuck up this time?” He muttered to himself ruffling his black hair, wishing desperately that he could go back to bed. Hopefully the damage was minor, otherwise he’d have to help clean it up.

Straightening out the bomber jacket he was still wearing from the night before and wiping off his jeans, Karkat got up from his chair, cracking his back slowly. Running his hands through his black hair, red eyes scanning the room, he surveyed the damage.

From the looks of things, nothing was knocked too far out of place. The few band and movie posters remained on the wall, with the strange mix of rom-coms and band names clashing together. Some of the weird inventions his father gave to him as ‘gifts’ over the years were unharmed as well, though his collection romantic-comedies were scattered all over the place, along with the dusty computer programming books flopped face down on the floor.

“Fuck.” Karkat fought the urge to start scrambling to pick his shit up off the floor, otherwise he’d be late for school. Besides, might as well figure out if he needed to take his dad to the hospital for the third time this month.

He got out of his room and stomped downstairs, keeping his eyes and ears open for another explosion. He followed the sounds of rampant cursing coming from the basement, whose door was wide open. “Everything all right down there?”

The response with met with more cursing, which he could only take as a yes. If his dad was cursing, then that means he’s breathing.

As Karkat marched down the stairs, mentally preparing himself for the disaster zone, he couldn’t help but count the steps where the transition between wood to metal occurred, slowly changing from its welcoming facade. The temperature in the room dropped with each step he took, the cold metal sending shivers down his spine.

It always felt like that when he went into the lab.

The cold feeling only lasted seconds, though, as he could feel the leftover heat of the explosion waft past him. He could already smell the burnt wires and metal, causing his face to wrinkle in disgust. He could also smell something almost chemical too, but not something he could immediately place in his tired mind. The cursing got louder as he finally caught sight of his dad moving through the wreckage of the latest experiment.

Spades Slick was not someone you would consider a scientist judging from his face. He looked too rough for that, with scowl set on his face and a deep scar over one eye. There was also the matter of the eyepatch he decided to wear and the fact he wore pinstripe suits when he wasn’t working in the lab.

However, he was one. He had the jumpsuit and lab coat to prove it.

And a degree in physics and astronomy, but that was less important than the lab coat.

“Hey, Dad, not to ruin your fun here,” Karkat swept an arm, gesturing to the wreckage. “But please tell me we aren’t going to have the place decontaminated again. I’m sure the guys who do it are starting to recognize us.”

Spades turned around to his son at the sound of his voice. “Kid, I told you to wait ten minutes before heading into the lab after an explosion. You have no idea what I could be doing down here!” He looked around, dazed. The force of the blast must’ve caused him to hit his head. “Besides, isn’t it late? You should be sleeping for school by now.”

“It’s six o’clock in the morning, Dad. You worked all night again.”

“I did?” Spades looked at his son incredulously. “Damn. Time must of flew by again. Had ‘nother breakthrough, you know how it is.”

“Yeah,” Karkat rolled his eyes, kicking away a piece of wreckage near him. “I’ve made a lot of coffee to ‘know how it is.’ You didn’t answer my question.”

“It ain’t radioactive or something like that, relax. I learned after the first three times.”

“Tell that to the neighbors.” Karkat looked around. “Well, not sure what you were expecting to happen, but clearly this wasn’t it. You at least eat?”

“Maybe.” Spades was immediately disproven when his stomach let out a hearty growl, somehow surprising him more than the explosion. “…Ok, maybe not. I was planning on it, but I think the food in the basement fridge is contaminated.”

“Again?!” It looked like the teen would raise up a bigger fuss, but he pushed down the complaints. Pick your battles, Vantas, pick your battles. “You know what? Whatever. Is the food in the upstairs fridge still fine?”

“Last I checked.”

“Okay.” He raised his hands up in defeat. “I’m going to make breakfast. Take care of the leftover fires down here and maybe clear out the fridge.” He turned around and made headway for the stairs. Grumbling curses and avoiding debris, he was already preparing.

“Got it.” Affirmed Spades, who Karkat could hear start moving heavy metal already. “Oh, and kid? Make sure you and your friends are available later. I got another test planned later and I want some witnesses just in case that it works.”

Mentally groaning, the sullen teen couldn’t bother responding. Taking one step at a time, he trudged upwards to the living area. He was already counting the damage up in his head and planning out the day he was most likely going to have.

Sniffing, he couldn’t help but finally place what the chemical smell was.

Burnt ectoplasm.

God, living with an ecto-scientist was weird.

* * *

After the fiasco that was this morning, Karkat couldn’t help but think the rest of his day was fitting as it was almost just as stressful.

Thanks to a mishap involving the bus, he was almost late for school. While he did finish the paper that was supposed to be due today, it turned out to be moot as the teacher failed to show up, meaning the all-nighter was worthless. Not to mention there was a pop quiz in chemistry that while he was confident in, wasn’t welcome.

Just another day in Casper High, really, but that didn't exactly lift his sour mood.

Least it was lunch time with his stupid, albeit close, friends. Hopefully they wouldn’t be planning any too wild today.

…A hope that was instantly dispelled when he saw Aradia grinning madly at whatever nonsense that Sollux was typing up on his computer.

If Karkat could describe his friends, he would describe them very briefly. While he wasn’t exactly someone to put people into categories or summarize them too broadly, he would describe each one as this;

Aradia Megido was a short, slightly chubby, manic pixie dream girl that seemed to grow more morbid as the years go on. While over her goth phase for a year or two now, she still carried the style as she wore skulls straight from _Dia de los Muertos_, along with dark eyeshadow and ragged clothing. The only thing separating her from a normal goth girl was the overtly positive attitude that masked what Karkat was sure was deep sadism.

Sollux Captor, on the other hand, was the pale, skinny nerd that you’d find in almost every teen movie. While probably in better shape, he still looked stick thin compared to him and Aradia but was taller than the both of them. It was matched up with a sarcastic personality and an overall pessimistic demeanor. He was also dressed like he was going to a rave judging from the dual colors of red and blue on his clothing, not to mention the 3D shades that he always wore.

His friends were fucking fashion disasters.

Karkat loved them to fucking pieces though, so sucks to be him, he guessed.

“Why do I have the feeling you guys are doing something I won’t like?” Karkat said, sitting the seat opposite to Aradia. He raised an eyebrow at the line of code that Sollux was working on and took a bite out of what he could only identify as meatloaf.

“Since that could be virtually anything, then yeah, we probably are KK.” Sollux didn’t even look away from the keyboard as he said this, fingers continuing to clack away.

“We’re planning revenge on the goth kids.” Aradia said, manic grin never leaving her face. It would have creeped Karkat out if he wasn’t used to seeing it. “They spray painted my locker pink again, so we’re putting a virus on their computers.”

“And I'm already not liking this.” Vantas shook his head, putting down the fork. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he exhaled. “You do realize the more you guys throw back at them, the more they throw back on us.”

"Isn't that half the fun though?" Sollux seemed to have a small smirk, checking over a line before moving on, satisfied. "It's not like you don't join in half the time."

"That's because if I don't, you'd get your asses handed to you virtually every day of the week." Karkat flicked a couple of fries at the two, earning a glare from Captor and a snort from Aradia. "At least tell me that you're doing it remotely, because I'd rather not have to run away from a horde of kids that smell like hair dye and graveyards again this month."

"Partially," The ex-goth clicked her tongue. "We've already changed their phones wallpaper to just some flowery stuff- y'know, kittens, rainbows, puppies- but we're missing one final thing."

Vantas narrowed his red eyes. "And what exactly is that?"

"I'm going to put 'Friday' by Rebecca Black on their computers and have it play on loop continuously." The programmer had a full-blown smile on his face by then, matching the manic grin of his compatriot. Karkat was justifiably horrified.

"Dude, that's not a prank. That's just torture."

Aradia laughed maniacally. "That's the point! Maybe _then_ they'll finally learn not to fuck with my locker." She banged her hand on the wooden table as she said this, drawing few stares. At this point, people were just used to it by now.

"Remind me why I'm friends with you two lunatics again?" Karkat rolled his eyes, noticing the full tray by Sollux. "Dude, eat right now. You can plot your revenge later, otherwise I will shove this unhealthy crap down your throat."

Sollux scoffed, finally closing the laptop. "Okay _mom._" Grabbing a handful of fries, he stuffed them into his mouth, taking a big gulp. "You're grumpier than usual. Did somebody shove that stick up your ass even more or are you trying to get a more ‘positive’ outlook on life."

"I’m surprised that you can even tell." Propping herself up on her elbows, she tilted her head to look at said grump. "Your dad blow up another of his inventions?"

"Yes, and I hate that you can tell that right off the bat. Didn't help that I had to redo that paper for Creative Writing last night." Karkat shrugged. "He said he had another 'breakthrough,' but all I could see was some more burnt ectoplasm."

The red and blue teen shook his head. "Where does he keep getting that stuff, anyway? Not to mention the funding too. You guys should be broke after all the stuff he keeps destroying."

"The government's funding him, right?" Aradia questioned. Nodding and answering her own question, she snapped her fingers. "Right! The governments making him look up how to make it a source for clean energy or something."

"That still doesn't make sense to me." Sollux shook his head.

"The ectoplasm producing energy thing, ectoplasm being an actual existing thing, or the government looking for clean energy?"

"All of the above."

Karkat looked miffed, frowning. "Can we please stop talking about my dad's weird experiments? Bad enough he's planning another test tonight."

"Another one?" Aradia voiced, his surprise mirrored by Sollux's. "I thought he was going to wait a little while since the last one caused all of us to get covered in ectoplasm."

"I still can't believe that stuff isn't toxic. Are you sure that stuff doesn't cause health problems?"

"Only in large quantities." Karkat rubbed a hand down his face. "Can we _please_ stop talking about ectoplasm? You know what, tell me how you're going to do the whole prank with the goth kids. Especially without getting caught."

Aradia smiled. She moved her hands, ushering them to move a little closer to her.

"The plan here will require a little grace..."

* * *

"HOW THE FUCK DID ANY OF THAT REQUIRE GRACE?!”

"IT WENT A LOT BETTER IN MY HEAD, TO BE HONEST!"

Karkat, with feet beating fast on the floor and turning down each hallway with little hesitation, thought over how the plan went wrong. Then he figured that the reason that the plan went wrong was because it was made by Aradia and Sollux.

Sneaking into the lockers was relatively easy since Aradia (creepily enough) knew all of the locker combinations. Uploading the virus was even easier since Sollux knew what he was doing when it came to computers. Hell, Karkat even made things smoother by distracting anyone that thought to question things with the most obvious lies known to man.

Of course, they were caught by the last goth kid right after they finished uploading the virus to his computer. Who then called every other one that hadn't head home yet.

Which led to the three of them running for their lives through the halls of like hell was on their heels, which was kinda true judging from some of the looks in the goth kids’ eyes.

God, they looked _pissed._

"Why did I let you guys talk me into this shit again?! God I should've known this would go wrong."

"Oh, shut up KK, you were having fun until this." Sollux was already out of breath, way too out of shape for this type of exercise. "Besides, we got a plan out of this."

"Really? I don't remember making one up. What is it?" Aradia asked jovially, apparently not taking the threat of the goth kids seriously. She immaturely stuck out her tongue at them before shifting her gaze forward.

"It's run like hell and hope we don't get tired first." Karkat's confidence in that plan waned as he heard the struggling breath from his friend.

"You sure that'll work, Usain Bolt? Remind me to sign you up for the next marathon then." The sarcastic reply was unwarranted, but Karkat was too focused on finding a way out of their stupid predicament to particularly care. He looked around carefully, noting his surroundings. Some kids up ahead hanging out at the vending machine, a branch in one of the hallways, a crowd in the hallway on the right...

"Hey," The two friends perked up at the sound of Karkat's voice. "I got a plan. You guys head right, and I'll find a way to get them coming after me on the left. Just run and try not to look back. Meet me at the entrance in ten minutes." It wasn't a great idea, but frankly it was all he could think of.

A couple of eyebrows were raised, but the two nodded along. "It's your funeral KK." Sollux gave a salute, getting ready to make a turn.

"They'll sing songs about you, Vantas." Aradia seemed to be getting ready to follow suite.

Karkat snorted, but kept a serious face, counting the steps before he made it to the group. He noted a sophomore holding an unopened soda can.

_One,_

Springing forward suddenly, he grabbed the soda can right from the sophomore, shaking it up quickly.

_Two,_

Turning around, he closed one eye and held up the cans lid at the goth kids. He slowed, making sure they moved a little ahead to catch up. A part of couldn't help but smirk.

_Three._

When the goth kids were about three steps away from him, he pulled the tab of the can open, the spray suddenly moving outward towards the kids. Stopping, he made sure to wildly wave it around, spreading it so all of them could feel his fizzy wrath. Sputtering from the group could be heard and hands were raised to protect themselves from the onslaught.

When the last of the soda pop trickled out of the can, the red-eyed kid looked into the faces of every enraged goth kid, noting the running makeup.

"So," Karkat sarcastically began, looking over them with a bored look. "I guess we all learned a lesson about wearing waterproof mascara."

Sensing their hostility rise instantly, he turned tail and went into the left hallway. As he heard the footfalls of the incoming horde, he made sure to look into the crowd on the other side. He noted the sight of his friend’s head bobbing up and down in 

Sensing their hostility rise instantly, he turned tail and went into the left hallway. As he heard the footfalls of the incoming horde, he made sure to look into the crowd on the other side. He noted the sight of his friend’s heads bobbing in and out of the crowd.

The things he did for love.

* * *

Getting away from the goth kids was surprisingly easy after a while. He wasn’t a track star by any means, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t quick. However, hiding out in the parking lot wasn’t exactly his idea of a wonderful school afternoon.

Ducking between several vehicles and noting the sound of the goth kids’ voices being drifting, Karkat sighed as he slowly stood up. Well, that was at least over with.

Even though the goth kids would most likely forget about it before the day was over, that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t retaliate later. He’d probably have to keep an eye out for the next few days. He was gonna kill those two later.

Then again, he thought to himself, he’d have to find them first.

Walking between the cars, he moved to make sure that any stragglers wouldn’t spot him. “If anything else goes wrong today…” He muttered to himself, diving into an open clearing…

And almost getting hit by a monstrously pink car seconds later.

Seeing the flash of pink, he jumped back, waving his arms frantically. “WAIT!”

Thankfully, the driver stopped with a jerk, causing Vantas to sigh in relief. Which, as he noticed was becoming a pattern, was promptly ripped away from him as he noticed the driver.

Trizza ‘Motherfucking’ Tethis.

“Vantas, you dumbshit.” Great, she was getting out of the car. Good for him, he thought. And she was dressed in that stupid overtly pink crap again, wasn’t she? “The fuck are you doing out here, trying to find ghosts for your dad?”

“No, but it appears I found something much worse.” Vantas said easily, not even bothering to look in her direction. “Honestly, I’m starting to wish you hit me with that car. Wanna try again?”

“Nah, just got a new paintjob. Ain’t gonna fuck it up by getting your poor ass blood on my hood.” She frowned, sipping from the milkshake in her hands. Nasty Burger, he dully noted. God, he had to get out of here.

“Yeah, good to hear.” He turned around, already trying to plan his escape. “Look, glad to talk to you and all, but I got shit to do at home that isn’t this. So-” He made a strangled noise as he was suddenly pulled back by the collar, turned around to meet Trizza’s eyes.

“Nuh uh. You’re going to tell what the _fuck_ you were doing running around in a parking lot. I mean, not like you have a fucking car.” She tapped her foot on the ground, taking out her phone. She nonchalantly started typing in something he couldn't see. “I mean, didn’t your dad blow up the last one?”

“Don’t remind me.” Karkat mumbled. The police were not happy to be present at that particular incident. "Just looking for my friends. They wanted to meet up here for some dumb reason." It was a lame lie, but it was the best one he could think up.

"You sure?" Trizza raised an eyebrow. She turned the phone to him, showing a video that was already looping.

Taking a look, Karkat couldn't help but gulp.

It was him spraying the soda on the goth kids. And judging from the sadistic little smile on her face, she was about to blackmail him. 

Fan-_fucking_-tastic.

Karkat sighed and just decided to get along with it. "What exactly do you want, Tethis? I got shit to do."

At this, Trizza only shrugged. Minutely, she switched into a more businesslike persona, which was a little put off by the smirk on her face. "I need my chemistry homework done for a month, and maybe some editing for my English assignments. I got other guys for the rest of the stuff, but your the only guy here getting A's so far."

True, but that was honestly because Mr. Faluca was a horrible teacher. "And I'm guessing that if I don't do it, you'll show everyone in the school and I'll get detention?"

"Nice to know that you're catchin' on." She laughed a little. "Not gonna' lie, it was kinda funny watching it. Looks on their faces were _priceless._" She watched the video appreciatively. "Too bad that if anybody else sees it, they'll kill your stupid ass."

"Not if we have anything to say about it."

Sollux's voice, followed by the sound of Friday being played out of Trizza's phone was the most beautiful thing he'd heard all day.

"What the- Wait, Vantas get the fuck back here!" Karkat was already running like hell, snickering to himself. He slipped past a truck, noting that Aradia and Sollux were behind it. They followed him soon after, laughing loudly.

Knowing Sollux, the virus would last all day and the video would be deleted somehow. It was a scary skill, but a welcome one right now, Vantas thought as they made it to the end of the parking lot. Noting the buses hadn't arrived just yet to take them home, they stopped to catch their breath.

"God, why is today full of us running? I hate running." Sollux complained, leaning over himself and supporting himself on his shaky knees. Aradia only laughed, slapping on the back and sending him over.

"You just need some exercise." Her laughter was dying down slowly, but almost reignited when the downed kid looked up to glare at her. "Don't look at me like that, you're the one that sits at a computer all day!"

Receiving only grumbles, she continued to laugh.

Karkat fought down a smile. God, his friends were idiots.

And despite everything, it was a good day. Ups, downs, and everything in between.

Before he could think further, or even thank his friends for that matter, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Fishing it out as his friends bickered, he looked over the message and frowned.

** _It's ready. Make sure to bring your friends._ **

He sighed. Looking over at said friends, he couldn't help but wonder if he could just skip and hang out at the Nasty Burger with his friends. It would certainly be a bit better than watching another experiment go wrong.

He thought better of it though. His dad would be disappointed that, on the off chance it _did _work that no one got to see it. Especially if it was him that missed it.

"Hey," he said suddenly, grabbing their attention. "Dad's expecting me for the experiment tonight. Wanna' watch it explode again?"

Aradia shrugged, jerking Sollux up. "Might as well. Everything else today's been stressful, it'll be fun watching your dad talk about ghosts again."

Sollux snorted "You think it'll work this time? Who knows, maybe he'll pull through with a miracle or something."

"Doubt it." Karkat pushed down the feeling of guilt on doubting his father, just focusing on this moment. "But hey, he's done some cool stuff before."

Leading the charge, Vantas and his friends rushed to the buses. He couldn't help but shake his head, thinking one final negative though about his father before pushing it deep down into his mind.

_Why the hell does he want to build a ghost portal?_


	2. A Great Big Flash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the chapter that you were all waiting for. Of course, I should warn anyone that isn't familiar with Danny Phantom, there is a trigger warning for this chapter. There's some character death, but I'm pretty sure most of the people reading this expect that from Homestuck. However, don't worry.
> 
> They get better.

The drive home was uneventful, one of the few saving graces of today. Of course, Karkat knew that wouldn't last when they got inside his house. His dad was one chaotic being within his life and his friends were another, so combining them usually either cancelled things out or raised them to a whole new level of stupid.

Which is why he had to set ground rules.

"Alright, you assholes, you know the deal." Karkat said plainly, guarding his front door. He pointed to Aradia first. "No touching the science experiments and messing with ectoplasm. Just because it might be proof of ghosts does not mean you are allowed to fuck with it likes it's an ill-advised children's toy." She nodded simply, but the grin on her face remained.

He turned to Sollux, who honestly didn't look like he cared enough to pay attention. "_You_ try to keep your sarcastic comments away until the end, along with trying to stream the experiment. It may be funny to watch my dad curse and yell at the portal, but posting it online only hurts us both." Sollux nodded too, though it was less convincing than Aradia's.

Karkat knew they wouldn't likely follow his orders, but it was nice to at least have the formality of addressing them. "Alright. Let's get this freakshow going."

Opening the door, they all walked inside slowly, keeping an ear out for Spades, the general consensus being that should only be concerned is when there _isn't _noise. Thankfully, they heard the clattering of tools going on in the basement, meaning that it was relatively safe.

Of course, that could change when they actually entered the basement.

"Hey Dad, I brought my friends over! I'd appreciate it if you put anything the ecto-guns away before we get down there." Karkat made sure to shout while at the top of the stairs. Hearing no response, he rolled his eyes and started walking down, his friends following close behind.

"Why does your dad have ecto-guns again? There's no ghosts to shoot at!" Sollux said, exasperated by the thought.

"Government wanted him to make some non-lethal weapons and that was the best he had." Vantas only shrugged, knowing how stupid it sounded. At least it was one of the inventions that worked, weapon or not.

"Still pretty dangerous to have literal laser weapons though." Aradia said sagely, tracing her fingers on the walls as they moved downward. Her hand met cold metal, shying away from it. "Pretty futuristic though. Really sci-fi."

Karkat didn't bother to add to that, taking the last step into the basement lab. He looked forward, watching as his father was inside the 'grand achievement' that he'd spent so much time on these last few years.

The ghost portal. Or, at least, the shell of it.

A steel frame in the shape of an octagon indicated the three-foot dip into the wall, holding it together in a way that appeared ominous. Inside the frame was a bunch of wires, panels, and glowing arcs of light that made up its guts, covering the walls inside inch-by-inch. In the center laid what could be described as a laser/projector blipped on and off, depending on whatever his father appeared to be messing around with at the time.

Karkat couldn't but mentally agree with Aradia's earlier statement. It did look like something out of a science fiction movie.

He shook his head and snapped himself out of the awe he previously felt. It was too bad it wouldn't work.

"Dad!" He shouted again, causing the man in the portal to jump. A loud clang and wrench was dropped on Spades foot, causing him to jump in place and hold it with curses flying out of his mouth at rapid fire. Aradia could be heard laughing behind Karkat, who did his best to ignore it.

"God dammit." Spades seemed to calm down, giving his son a look. "I'll consider that makes us even since I woke you up with an explosion this morning."

The boy snorted, rolling his eyes. "Trust me, we aren't even close to even for that crap." He motioned to his friends. "We're here now. You got something to show us?"

"Ah, right, that!" Spades instantly walked out of the portal, moving towards them. "I got the hazmat suits set up, so you go change. I'll set up some chairs."

The three kids moved to the hazmat suits located near the changing rooms. Grabbing their individual suits, they moved into the rooms and started getting dressed into them as quickly as possible and adjusting when needed.

Getting out, an outside observer would have noted that only one of the suits seemed to be personalized. While Aradia and Sollux wore the more traditional orange, baggy hazmat suits, with the headgear to match, Karkat actually wore something a little bit off in comparison. While made of the same materials, the suit was more form fitting to the wearer, with the gloves and shoes attached to its very fabric. The color was also primarily white, with black accents appearing on the gloves and shoes. An unused hood and goggles dangled off of it as well, colored in similar respects.

"I still don't understand why we have to wear these." Vantas complained quietly. "Ectoplasm isn't radioactive. You've tested that over a million times."

"It's the spirit of the thing kid." Spades said, finally moving the final chair for the kids to sit into place. "You can't start the scientific discovery of the century while wearing street clothes. We need to have some dignity."

Not feeling like he had plenty of dignity right now, Karkat shook his head. He heard the snap of a camera, causing him to turn around to see Sollux chuckling. He flipped him off and stuck out his tongue at him.

This only earned him another snap from the phone camera.

"Come on, you guys, let's get crackin'! Ghosts aren't going to wait forever!" Aradia moved forward in her bulky suit excitedly, sounding like a child. Whether she was hoping it would work or hoping it would explode, neither boy could tell as they followed behind.

Sitting in the prepared chairs, Karkat mentally estimated how long this would take. Long speech or short speech?

"Ahem," Spades said, standing between them and the portal. "Long ago..."

Crap, it was the long speech.

"...humans have wondered just where exactly they go when they die." Spades started, sweeping a hand in front of him. "Many of you here have probably wondered what exactly happens to the human soul yourself. Do they go to heaven or hell? Nirvana? Do they reincarnate?

"I'm not going to claim I have the complete answer." He said solemnly, putting a hand to his chest. Karkat forced himself not to laugh at his dad's theatrics. God, he got really hammy when it came to his speeches. He had this one memorized, and it only got hammier from here.

"However!" Spades said suddenly, stomping on the ground. "I may have one part of it here today." He made a grand gesture to the portal behind him, taking step to the side. "This here will be the portal that bring us closer that answer; the one thing that will give us a confirmation that not only is there a human soul, but also that some souls cling to life even more than the living.

"What I'm opening up here today," Slick said finally, moving to the lever on the side of the portal. He smiled. "Is the answer to one facet relating to the afterlife; _do ghosts exist?_"

He grabbed the lever with both hands, smile turning maniacal. "Hope you're ready to say hello, because they're ready to say hi to you!"

He pulled the lever down in one swift motion.

Various lights in the ghost portal began to brighten, one at a time in a rapid sequence. Green with accents of red littered the inside as various hidden nodes came to life, poking out of the walls slowly. The projector/laser in the back lit up slowly, charging as the tip of the laser opened up. Darts of green electricity moved across the nodes, arcing and moving slowly to the back. As it began to connect together, the end of the laser shot open...

And then the portal went dead silent, the electricity cutting off.

It took a few beats, but in front of the expectant gazes of his young crow, Spades threw the lever up and then down again. Then again. And again, this time with cursing.

"What the fuck?!" He threw down the lever in the on position one final time before moving towards the portal and giving it a swift kick. The clang of metal seemed to throw the three teenagers out of their trance as Karkat immediately moved to go to his dad.

"Hey," He attempted to stop the cursing in its tracks. It was unsuccessful, though, as Spades kept cursing louder. "Look, Dad, it's happened before. Maybe you'll have better luck next time, like always."

"Kid," Spades said lowly, gritting his teeth as an attempt to quell his rage. He kicked at the steel even harder. "At least it exploded when it tried to work, not sputtered out like it was it was at the tail end of a fucking marathon." His voice slipped as, in a fit of rage, punched at the steel in an incoherent haze. "Just one fucking time, dammit!"

He cursed louder and shook his hand, taking deep breaths as he gave a fiery glare to the portal. He then turned away and walked past Karkat. "I'm heading to the bar so I'm not pissed off in front of you. Don't fuck around in the lab too long and make sure to leave the suits back where you found them."

Stomping up the stairs, the three teens flinched as they heard the door slam, echoing within the silent lab. The hum of the remaining power, various beeps, and the footsteps growing more and more distant as time went on was the only thing to interrupt it as they waited to help break the silence.

"Well," Came Sollux's nervous voice, the only one willing to break the silence. "That wasn't exactly the most entertaining freak out I've seen. Pretty dramatic, though."

Karkat turned to him immediately, glare already set onto his face. "Can't we have one moment where you aren't being sarcastic?" It came out a little harsher than normal, but Vantas couldn't seem to care less right now. When Captor could only summon up a shrug, he sighed and moved to the table containing his dads plans.

"Hey," Aradia attempted to sound comforting, the smile on her face straining as her hands were wringing nervously. "I'm pretty sure he'll cool off within the next couple of hours. Maybe a few drinks'll be good for him!"

"She's got a point, KK." Sollux was heading towards the changing station, attempting to slip out of the hazmat suit. "Like you said, it's happened before. He'll come back, work on it some more, and call us back here with another demonstration. He's pretty consistent."

"Yeah, yeah." Grumbling, red eyes closed as he pinched his nose. "I'm just... worried, I guess."

"Why? Your dad's the most stubborn person I know." Megido leaned against a lone machine, tilting her head curiously. "Hell, you're almost as stubborn as he is, and you're _adopted_. He fathered you so hard, you got his stubbornness."

"Yeah, but," He trailed off, looking at the schematics. Some of the stuff on there was easy to understand due to listening to his father's rantings for years, but other parts were hard to decipher. "He's been so focused on this that it always hurts to see him act so _depressed_ over it."

Aradia and Sollux looked at each other briefly. Aradia gave the boy a look, but Sollux could only shrug. It was an awkward silence, with Karkat silently looking over the notes sadly and his friends shuffling their feet.

"Why don't you take a look at it?"

Karkat blinked and looked at Sollux with a deadpan expression. "What."

"Don't give me shit dude." Sollux pointed at him to shut him up. "I'm just saying, you want to help fix this, maybe try and check it out yourself. Can't be worse than letting it sit and rot."

Aradia shrugged but nodded along. "He could be right. Besides, maybe you'll find out what's wrong with it. I think your dad will be happy even if you were the one to open it."

"Okay." Vantas held his hands up in front of him. "Think about what you just said. Me, attempting to fix one of my dad's most complex inventions, whose goal is to open up to another dimension, with just random knowledge I've picked up over the years from his ramblings on the subject. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

Looking at each other, Sollux and Aradia shrugged. Captor took his phone out of his pocket and waved it around sheepishly. "It could make a great picture?"

Karkat sighed, but his eyes couldn't help but wander to the portal. He couldn't lie and say that it wasn't a tempting idea. Well, you can't really fix something that was never going to work in the first place, but it was the thought that counts, right? Even if nothing actually occurred, maybe he could get the thing to at least turn on long enough to explode or have a stable current. It would probably make his dad feel a little better.

Fuck it. Wasn't like he had anything important to do on a Thursday night anyway.

"Fine." Karkat walked toward the portal reluctantly, resigning himself. "But if anything explodes, I'm blaming you idiots."

"Fine by me." Aradia started to move around the lab, checking on anything connected to the portal. "I'll keep an eye out for anything wrong out here. Sollux, check out the computers. Maybe Spades programmed something wrong."

"You got it." Sollux headed for the system installed on a nearby wall, though he stopped briefly. "Hey, KK, turn around."

The red eyed boy complied before a flash of light caused him to blink. Quickly clearing his vision, he saw the other boy waving the phone again.

"To infinity and beyond." Sollux chuckled as he went back to the computers. Karkat snorted too but didn't bother giving a response as we walked into the portal.

He shivered reluctantly as the temperature proceeded to drop. The inside of the portal was freezing, though the hazmat suit kept him warm by trapping his body heat. The lines on the inside of the portal glowed a toxic green, the ectoplasm inside appearing to move on its own.

Subconsciously, Karkat knew it was the ectoplasm was what caused the temperature to drop so much. Despite how it looked warm to the touch, ectoplasm sucked the heat out of anything that came close to it. If Spades was right, any cold spot that seems to form was just a mass of ectoplasmic energy forming into what could become a natural portal to the Ghost Zone. It was honestly the only thing that made his dad's theories almost slightly plausible.

He shut the thought down, focusing on the task at hand.

The portal was pretty well constructed, if Karkat had to say one nice thing about it. It certainly looked like something out of a science fiction novel, but presentation was all it had, unfortunately. Looking around, it matched Spades plans perfectly and looked almost functional. Maybe it was a software issue that killed it.

Wait.

Karkat couldn't help but notice something in the back that looked a little out of place. A loose panel, probably, but it was worth a shot to check it out. He leaned forward, making sure to walk in slowly as he determined just what he was seeing. It kind of looked like a button...

Unfortunately, he was snapped out of his musing when he tripped over the wrench his father left behind in the portal.

Landing awkwardly, Karkat couldn't help but curse profusely as he hit the metal floor. He grabbed the offending piece of metal and chucked it out of there as soon as possible. He grumbled as he slowly got up, feeling for a foothold.

"Everything okay in there?" Aradia shouted back, laughing at the cursing she got back as a response. "I'll take that as a yes."

"God dammit," Karkat muttered to himself. He kept feeling up the wall to grab a hold, shifting to his knees all the while. "I swear, this lab is going to be the death-"

_CLICK._

Karkat head swerved up towards his hand, noticing the button too late. The click was quickly accompanied by the doors of the portal suddenly shutting with a loud bang.

"The fuck?!" Karkat got to his feet and ran to the doors. As soon as he could reach them, he started to bang on them with fervor, yelling. "Guys, open the fucking door! This isn't funny!"

Sollux stopped what he was doing, eyes widening. "I didn't do that." He said, hands twitching over the keyboard.

"I didn't either." Aradia said, bewildered. She shouted loud enough so Karkat could hear. "We didn't do anything to close 'em, Karkat. Did you hit something while you were in there?"

"I don't know. I think I pushed a button or something." Vantas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, maybe this was a bad idea. Just open the door and we'll-"

_CRACK_

He stopped. Red eyes opening, he remained as still as he possibly could. He tried to hear the sound again, ears straining. Slowly, he turned his head behind him, trying to discern its location.

At the back of the portal, he could see some of the lights of the portal turn on. The projector had a dull glow to it, though it hadn't fully turned on. Some nodes had snuck out of the walls while he hadn't been looking.

_CRACK_

Then an arc of green electricity passed through a couple of nodes.

"Guys, open the door." Karkat said loudly, but calmly. He watched as the green lightning crackled again, moving over more nodes this time. "The portals turning on, please open the door."

"What?!" Aradia jumped towards the doors, hitting them. She looked at Sollux, who looked as panicked as she felt. "Find something on the computer, I'll mess with the machines."

"Got it." His voice felt shaky. Why was it shaky? Come on, it was going to be fine Sollux, just find a way to cancel the program. Simple.

God, he really hoped it was that simple.

Hands flying across the keys, he kept the mantra up, even as his hands shook all to hell.

"Fuck, fuck, _fuck._" Karkat attempted to press himself flat to the wall as an arc of electricity almost grazed him. "It's getting _closer!_"

"It'll be fine, KK, just wait a second." Sollux wasn't so sure if he believed that as he tried to find a code related to the portal and on/off sequence and was finding absolutely _nothing. Where the hell was that file?!_

"Okay, okay, okay." Aradia attempted to find something among the generators turning on the portal that would shut it off. "Just hang on!"

"Easy for you to say!" Karkat felt the static in the air as he attempted to stay out of what was becoming a storm of pure, green lightning at the back of the portal. The projector was slowly lighting up more and more, much to his immediate horror. "Please, please, _please, just open the door!_"

He turned around and started to bang on the metal once more, becoming desperate. He couldn't help but plead under his breathe, muttering curses, prayers, and anything else he could think of.

"No, no, no, nonononono..." Aradia couldn't find any way to turn it off manually and was beginning to panic. She ran to the doors and futilely tried to pull them apart, still talking under her breath, _nononononononNO._

Karkat could feel tears on his face. They were falling down, he couldn't stop it, he was scared, just let him _out_.

_CRACK_ _CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK_ _ **CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK** _

The electricity was reaching its fever pitch, he could hear it. Turning he couldn't help but see the projector, in the middle of it all, had started to light up. For a second, he stopped banging on the walls as something began to swirl within it, the ecto-energy swirling out from the walls and moved towards it.

He still watched it, the yells of his friends on the other side, dazed as the glow began to grow until _there was a great big flash-_

* * *

Spades walked sullenly down the street; hands deep into his pockets. He was over halfway to the bar right now, but his need for a drink was starting to wane as he watched the sun set in the distance. Maybe long walks were a good way to calm down after all.

Well, that was what everyone at those stupid therapy groups said.

His hands clenched into fists. He reminded himself to go back to those at some point. It had been a while.

Spades knew he was a temperamental man. He did his best to keep it under control when around his son, but Karkat still had picked it up anyway. He was so much like his old man.

_If only his old man was someone to look up to._

Slick growled at the intruding thought. Why the hell didn't it work this time?! He'd gone against every instinct and actually lowered the power output so that it wouldn't explode in front of the kids again. He'd checked over the math three different times, made sure all the parts were up to date, he even triple checked the fuel gages.

And he still made a fool of himself in front of his son. Fantastic work Spades. You've done it again.

_Maybe you'll have better luck next time, like always._

He frowned deeply. Like always.

The need for a drink was slowly coming back.

He would have continued to stomp towards the closest bar, but noticed the streetlights were beginning to flicker. He narrowed his eyes at them, watching as the previously consistent glow was starting to fail.

"Hey, Slick!" He jumped at the sound of a distant neighbor, Fred or something, yelling at him. Looking over, the idiot was scratching his head and looking on inside his house. "You aren't running an experiment something now, right? My powers all messed up."

"No, not right now." He checked his phone to make sure the kids hadn't sent anything. The lack of notifications did little to settle his nerves as he tried to remember if he turned off the power to the portal. "I've been walking for a while now. Kids haven't sent me anything."

Fred (or was it Frank?) grumbled something about the power company as Spades decided to turn around and started to speed walk back home. It was probably nothing, but he'd feel so much better if he could check things out first.

Spades couldn't help but feel like he really needed to check it out.

* * *

Aradia wasn't sure how long the screaming had gone on.

A few minutes? Seconds? Hours? Honestly, she had no idea.

And judging from the panicked breathing coming from Sollux in the back, he probably didn't know either.

"Do you," She heard him take in breath, his voice shaky. "Do you hear anything in there?"

He's probably crying, she thought to herself. She didn't want to check.

"Open it." Aradia said calmly, tone betraying her nerves.

"What?" Sollux's hands, which had been hovering over the keyboard since the lightshow happened. "I mean," He stopped, and his mind drew a blank as he couldn't find an excuse.

He didn't want to see what was in there. KK was dead. He didn't want to see the body. He didn't want to see it, he didn't want to see it, _he didn't want to._

"Open it." The girl was still looking at the portal, everything about her was tense. She didn't turn around at all while she continued. "He's still in there. He might be alive, but really, really hurt. So. Open. It."

Captor felt his hands move down to the keyboard on their own. He wasn't sure he believed that, but he complied anyway in the small chance that it might be true.

He finally found that stupid file (fat lot of good it did) and opened up the damn door. He reflexively closed his eyes tight, mentally blocking anything unpleasant out.

Aradia kept her eyes open and forward, seeing the open portal for the very first time.

For a moment, she forgot everything to watch the swirling green mass move in slow circles, hypnotizing her. She could see shapes within it, distant, like they were miles away. Just spherical and strange, hidden behind the now thin curtain. She could probably just put her hand in there and it watch it puncture it, like it was nothing.

Then a foot stepped out of the portal, waking her up.

She moved back, putting her hands in front of her as she watched something slowly move out of the portal, a hand moving out to grip the outside. Something (_a person?_) moved out of, lumbering as if it had a large weight put on its shoulders. It (_he_) had messy white hair on the top of its head, a gloved hand rubbing it like he had a headache.

Then it groaned it Karkat's voice as it tumbled down on its hands and knees.

Sollux, who had opened up his eyes at this point, moved forward frantically. "KK?!" He moved to the boy's side, barely noticing the difference in looks. "Dude, the fuck happened in there?!"

"I think a truck hit me. Didn't leave even leave any contact information too." A weak chuckle came from him. It devolved into a coughing, earning yet another groan from him. "Fuck, that hurts. Should probably stop talking."

Aradia lowered her arms, taking a step forward. It felt like the final pin dropped as she looked over the hazmat suit he was wearing, now inverted in color. "Karkat?"

"Who the fuck would it be?" Karkat (_oh god, it was Karkat_) looked up at her, confused. Well, as far as she could tell, he looked confused.

"You can't really blame me for being confused, you look a little…" She trailed off, cutting herself off with a shrill giggle. She didn't know why she was laughing. This was definitely not the time to laugh. "A little different."

"I don't feel different." Karkat attempted to get up, but quickly stumbled. "Ok, I'm not feeling that hot right now, but we'll just go to the hospital or something."

"Yeah, you definitely don't feel too hot either." Sollux seemingly was getting over the relief as he finally got a good look over his friend. He felt freezing, if he was being honest. "You kind of went full albino, dude."

"What are you talking about?!" He gave a look to his friend, who flinched at the gaze. "Look, I made it out fine. My suit must have…" He didn't finish his sentence as he finally looked down at his gloved hand finally. "My suits colored wrong."

Karkat looked at the whiteness of the glove and trailed down it to the black sleeves. That was wrong, right? He felt that was wrong.

"…Take me to the mirror." Karkat attempted to get up before they answered, again only stumbling. His friends moved quickly to grab him, putting him back on his feet. His eyes looked towards his boots, noticing that they were also white.

Yeah, that was wrong. Why the hell was the color _wrong._

"Uh," There was hesitation as Aradia and Sollux looked at each other over the hunched form of their friend. Eventually, Captor nudged Karkat's shoulder carefully. "We made it."

Karkat immediately moved to the sink, getting sick of being supported up. He gripped the sides of the sink, eventually standing on his own two feet. He took a deep breath, looking at himself carefully in the mirror.

He blinked.

"That's not me." Karkat said calmly, the reflection scowling much like he was doing right now. "I mean come on, just look at it!"

The reflection mocked him as it mirrored his gesture, even following his movements to grab his hair. "I mean, I have slight albinism, but I've never had white hair. I'd look like an anime protagonist!"

A laugh escaped him, and he felt an uneven smile flit onto his face. The reflection did the same, funnily enough. I almost caused him to let out another laugh.

"And look at that _skin_!" Karkat knew for sure that he didn't look that tan before. He'd tried to see what would happen if he was under the sun for long enough and ended up sun burnt for a week. Albeit, he noticed that he had a green glow, so maybe it was a trick of the eyes.

He finally caught eyes with the reflection, stopping his tirade in his tracks. Tilting his head, he kept eye contact with it, looking deep within it.

The eyes were red. The color wasn't unusual, sure, but that was all there is. No pupils, just a pure red void where his eyes should be.

Karkat gulped. "Is this some kind weird joke?" He moved back, the shakiness in his legs having gone. He ran his hand through his hair again. "I mean, props to you guys for getting my dad involved, but this is kind of in bad taste." He laughed, coming out hysterically.

"Dude, you're floating." Sollux interrupted him before he could continue with his rant.

"What?!" Karkat looked down to find that his legs weren't on the ground anymore, hovering inches off the ground. He yelped, floating higher like he had jumped. "How?! Humans can't float! Why- the fuck- just what the hell?" He looked at his friends, noting that they looked a little scared. He caught sight of the portal in the, working.

He stared at the portal with careful consideration. Narrowing his eyes, he looked down at his hands and opened them. He closed them again, watching the fabric flex around it.

Then he laughed.

"Oh, I fucking get it now. I'm dreaming!" He kept laughing as he slowly moved downward, feet eventually reaching the floor. He nearly doubled over, hands held to his gut. "I mean, the ghost portal is working, you guys look like you're actually scared, and I'm _dead_."

"Hey!" Aradia said, backing up a bit as Vantas turned his pupil-less eyes towards her. "This isn't anything close to a dream! We just say you enter the portal and get locked in!"

Her response was another belly laugh. "Right, like I'd ever go into that death trap." Looking himself over, Karkat grinned. "This is a pretty good nightmare. I mean, _of course_ I'd die wearing this fucking thing."

"You're not dead." Sollux said weakly, wincing at the extra laughter that was incited.

"You know what," Karkat wiped at one his eyes and grinned. "You're right. I'm not. I'll just make myself alive again." He closed his eyes and frowned in deep concentration.

"That's not what he meant-" Aradia started but was cut off when a bright flash of light caused her to flinch. She blinked to get her eyes back to normal, keeping her eyes focused on Karkat.

Who somehow looked normal again?

Karkat stretched his arms out in front of him, turning them over and inspecting them. "Looks like the right colors again. Maybe I'll ask dad to make another suit. It'd make for a cool Halloween costume, right?" He laughed, walking towards the portal and nudging Sollux on the way. "I'll find some hair dye too. Maybe get some contacts? I don't know."

The other two looked at each other in confusion, mouths opening and closing. Aradia motioned to Karkat, who was looking at the portal with a critical eye. Sollux could only shrug, knowing as much about what was going as she did. Honestly, as far as they were concerned, this couldn't get any stranger.

Though, hearing the basement door open and the familiar stomping of Spades Slick did indicate that it could get worse.

"Kids?" Spades asked, slowly moving downward with careful steps. "The power was flickering down the street and I figured that maybe I left something on. Did an experiment explode while I was gone?"

As the two teens immediately locked up in fear, Karkat shouted back upstairs with little prompting. "Kind of. The portal finally turned on."

"Shit!" Spades footsteps quickened until he arrived at the bottom of the stairs, out of breath. "You got the fires put out, right? I really don't want to make another insurance... claim."

Slick would've continued with more panicked rambling, but he caught sight of his son standing in front of the ghost portal. Which was on. And working. Which was not something that happened before.

"... Someone please explain how the fuck the portal is on. Now." The man walked to where his son was standing, scratching his head. No one in the room was sure what he was looking for, especially him. He honestly looked and felt a little more bewildered than surprised, making a small stop at the computers to check the power output of the portal.

Karkat shrugged, noncommittal. "When you left, we figured we might as well dick around with the portal, see if there was anything wrong ourselves. I think a switch must've not hit right and we must've helped move it over. Portal turned on just like that."

"Just like that, huh?" Spades looked at the portal for nearly ten seconds, before looking at Karkat. His son looked right back at him with a passive look on his face, getting into an unofficial staring contest.

Then Spades laughed uproariously and grabbed his sun into a tight hug, swinging him around. Karkat froze, but joined in just as quickly, laughing almost as much.

Aradia and Sollux were just very confused.

"Holy shit!" Slick put down his son, taking off his hat and scratching his head, a rare smile on his face. "Just- holy shit! I don't what you kids _did,_ but you actually got it to work." He let out another laugh and moved towards the portal, looking deep within it. Green swirls and distant shapes were catalogued into his mind, studying it. "An actual, working portal! A dream come fucking true."

"You're goddamn right!" The red-eyed boy laughed along with him at a joke only he got. "You planning to celebrate, or do I start calling people myself?"

"Shit, right, I'll have to call up the old gang!" Spades jumped to a panel and pressed a button, closing the ghost portal. Aradia felt the pit in her stomach grow at how _easily_ he did it. "Looks like everything is going good down here. I'm going to make some calls, you three do whatever you want. I'll make sure to put you in the official reports so you three get credit." He kept laughing as he ran up the stairs, footsteps fading as he went. Karkat was still giggling to himself, barely noticing his father go.

"Dude." Sollux started gravely. "We need to tell him what happened."

"About what, man? Like I said, this is clearly a dream." Karkat didn't bother to listen to further protests as he moved behind his friends. "Look, I'm gonna go to sleep. You guys have fun or something, I'll see you after I wake up."

"But this isn't-" Aradia was cut off when Karkat squeezed her shoulder, noticing his tense expression.

"It's just a _dream_, Aradia. Try and wake up." The teen looked straight ahead, not looking into her eyes. The smile was plastered on and didn't look close to budging, despite the inherent falseness of it. She went silent, sending a look to Sollux to do the same, which he did reluctantly.

Karkat led them out of the house despite their initial protests, eyes straight ahead and barely registering anything. His goodbyes were stiff, and his movements stilted when he later took off the suit later, though he subconsciously checked himself out in the mirror later. Nothing of note as far as he could tell.

The smile on his face failed to leave before he went to bed that night, when he forced himself not to think. Closing his eyes, he promised himself to talk to Aradia and Sollux about this tomorrow. They'd laugh their asses off.

Below him, in the basement lab, as his mind drifted into a dreamless sleep, the portal hummed softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said he got better. Mostly.
> 
> See you next chapter!


	3. Everything Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter turned out shorter than the rest, but I always plan around a story rather than the word count. It's slow going so far, but I think it's all coming together smoothly. Maybe.
> 
> Either way, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and that you have a nice day!

The morning felt quite a bit calmer. Admittedly, there wasn’t any explosions like yesterday, so maybe Karkat had lower standards when it comes to deeming something calm.

As Vantas moved downstairs slowly, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, he couldn’t but feel a little relief as he heard his father in the kitchen, singing off kilter to some old song. Least if he isn’t in the lab, nothing explodes.

Except maybe the oven. But he hadn’t done that in months.

“The lab…” Karkat couldn’t help but think over the dream. How much of that did he actually dream up? Everything up until he got home checked out. Hell, maybe up to the initial test was true, but then his dad wouldn’t be in a good enough mood to sing while making breakfast.

Fuck it, he was too tired to think it through right now. He smelled pancakes.

“Hey Dad?” He asked his father, mumbling as he moved into the dining room. “What’s the occasion? You usually don’t make pancakes.”

“We’re celebrating the breakthrough of the century, kid! My life’s work finally coming to fruition!” Spades was laughing maniacally as he plopped a plate full of pancakes down in front his son. Karkat couldn’t help but be alarmed as he barely laughed like that.

“Is that so?” The teen picked up the syrup and put a generous portion onto the plate, keeping an eye on his father. “Anything you’d like to share about it? I’d like to know what to expect later.”

“What are you talking about, kid? You and your friends were the ones that fixed the damn thing.”

Karkat was in the middle of a bringing a bite to his lips before hearing Spades say that. “What?” He asked carefully, his eyes shrinking to pinpricks.

“Y’know, the portal? The thing I’ve been working on since I brought you home?” Spades laughed as he went into the kitchen again, adding pancakes to a plate for himself. “Still don’t know what exactly you three did down there to fix it, but you’ll be in _all_ the science papers for it. Next to me of course.”

Karkat slowly let the fork down back onto his plate shakily, a blank look on his face as he ran through the events of yesterday again in his head. “Is that so?”

A part of him was screaming to him that his father must’ve been making it up. He finally snapped and thought it worked, right? I mean, a ghost portal? If that was true, how much else of that evening was real. No way in hell he walked into that portal. That would be stupid, right? He was smarter than that, even when it came to trying to make his dad happy. His friends would’ve gotten him out if he happened to get stuck too.

It was probably nothing. Maybe it really did turn on and his mind came up with something more insane to make this reality easier to accept. That had to be it.

Of course it was.

"Hey, you alright kid?"

Karkat snapped out of his thoughts as his dad, literally, snapped his fingers in front of his face. Spades continued, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Ya' sick or something? You've been acting a little off. I'll call the school if you ain't feeling well."

"No." The sudden denial came as a surprise to both of them, but Karkat continued despite himself. "I just- I think the reality of the situation is finally setting in."

Spades raised an eyebrow. "The hell are you talkin' about?"

"I mean," Karkat put his hands out in front of him, grasping them. "The portal is open, Dad. _Open._ I'm really happy about it- fucking ecstatic, really- I just thought..." He gulped as he desperately grasped for another thing to say. "I thought it was a dream."

Despite expecting some confusion, Karkat was relieved to see his dad laugh and nod, cutting into his pancakes. "God, I know how that feels. Didn't believe it myself when I got up either until I heard it purring downstairs. Wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking for it!"

Red eyes moved to the basement door instinctively, ears straining to catch any unusual noises. It didn't take him long to catch the sound of constant, pervasive hum coming from the basement. It certainly wasn't earth shattering or even annoying, but it probably would’ve been if he went down there. It was easy to get lost into, causing him to ignore the sound of his father talking about dampening it.

It was… gentle. But somehow ominous.

"So that's what that sound was." Karkat listened to it a little longer, before taking a deep sigh and giving a shaky smile to his dad. "You did a great job, Dad. I'm proud of you."

Spades snorted. "Keep the speeches for later for when I get my Peace Prize, kid." Despite the dismissal, the teen could've sworn he saw some tears in his eyes. Probably a trick of the light. "Eat your pancakes before they get cold."

Didn't have to tell him twice. Maybe some food will make some sense of things. Picking up the fork and plunging it into the fluffy prize, he put a good-sized bite into his mouth, chewing slowly. The syrup certainly tasted delicious and the butter was actually _melting_ instead of just frozen. Best batch of pancakes he's had in a very long time.

It certainly tasted real, he thought to himself. Unlike that stupid dream. When he was floating and ethereal, had glowing eyes with no pupils, feeling like if he floated upwards into the ceiling, he’d simply go through it, like he _wasn't even-_

_CLANG_

Karkat jumped as the fork hit the plate, confused blinking as he watched it sit there. Weird, wasn't he holding that a second ago? He must've dropped it while his mind was gone. God, was he going to feel weird like this all day?

The hum of the portal was the only answer.

* * *

The ride to school was fairly uneventful if he said so himself. He made sure to keep eye contact to a minimum and making a conscious effort not to say a word, which he kept going with as he moved into the school.

He wondered if he should tell someone about the ghost portal being open before shutting that line of thought down completely. Like anyone would believe _him._ Besides, if anything, he should save the gloating for his dad whenever he decides to get moving on the reveal and let them all find out the hard way. _Then_ he'd rub it in.

Of course, this meant talking to two particular people so they wouldn't blab about it.

Aradia and Sollux were, predictably, not far from their lockers. Karkat mentally noted as they seemed to chat relentlessly that Captor had bags under his eyes that were weighing them down. He looked like he was ready to fall asleep standing up. He could only see Aradia's back, but her usual aura of energy seemed diminished as she was slouching as much as the boy in front of her.

"I don't know what the fuck happened to you guys, but you look like _shit._" The red-eyed boy moved towards his friends, raising an eyebrow as they jumped. "You weren't playing video games all night again, right? I told you that shit was unhealthy."

"What?" Sollux said _oh so_ intelligently. He blinked a few times before getting indignant. "_I _look like shit? Dude, why the fuck don't _you_?"

Karkat rolled his eyes, putting in the combination to his locker. "Because I didn't play video games all night, like a normal person." He spared a glance to Aradia. "And I'm guessing you were scrolling through cryptid websites again, Megido?"

"Fair guess, but not today." She rubbed at her eyes, frowning at the dismissal. "And I think we both know what he was talking about, Karkat."

He narrowed his eyes, feeling his face twist into a scowl. Shit, he messed up on the combination. Try again.

"Not sure what you're gettin' at, Aradia. Might want to be a little more specific." His voice was tense, moving the lock slower as he attempted to get the thing right.

"The portal, KK. You know, the thing that turned on _last night_?"

Karkat’s hand slipped yet again, moving to too high of a number. He growled lightly. "Yeah, about that. Mind keeping that a secret until my dad pulls it out at some scientific conference. I mean, not like anyone is going to believe us and all, but just to play it safe.”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Aradia looked incredulous, setting him on edge. “I mean- wait, do you still think last night was a _dream?_”

The red-eyed teen fucked up the combination for the third time, punched the locker in frustration. He turned to them, irritation visible on his face. “Look, maybe the sight of the portal threw us off, but at least I’m being realistic here. Nothing. Else. Happened. That night.”

“Bullshit.” Sollux said. Ah great, the lisp was slipping in, Karkat thought. He was getting serious. Poking his finger into the chest too. Very serious. “Look, I don’t know what the hell it is you’re on, but you need to get over it right now. I don’t know if you’ve gotten this in your head about what happened back there but let me summarize it. You went into the portal-”

**“SHUT IT!”**

Sollux blinked and took a step back into Aradia, who tensed up immediately. Karkat barely noticed, eyes glowing red as he snarled at the two in frustration.

**“We are done talking about this.”** He commanded, voice warbling, changing as he glared at them. The light flickered above them, like it was ready to blow a fuse. **“Is that clear?”**

“Yeah.” To Aradia’s shame, it came out shaky and scared. “Loud and clear.”

**“…Go**od.” Karkat turned back to his locker and quickly entered the combination, moving the books around. Finally gathering up everything for the next class, he took a quick look up at the flickering light. “Fucking faulty wiring.”

Stomping away and feeling if a little exhausted, he left his two friends behind them ignoring their stares on back. The lights eventually stopped flickering as he stalked off.

He sighed. It was shaping up to be a lousy day.

* * *

So far, several periods in, Karkat's prediction had unsurprisingly come true.

He fought down the urge to glare at his friends as he felt their weird looks on him all day whenever they shared a class, along with feeling a bit guilty for his little outburst. He knew he shouldn't have yelled at them, even if they were talking crazy.

_You went into the portal-_

He shook his head, keeping it down as he moved into the library. He wasn't going to bother thinking about this right now. It was free period and he didn't have any homework, why bother thinking about some stupid crap his friends were trying to pull.

Karkat moved behind some bookshelves, heading into a little alcove where few other kids ventured. A solitary couch, old but fairly unused, sat in a little corner of the Casper's High meager library. It was probably filled with mothballs, with the blanket hanging off one of the armrests having been there since the school’s inception. He was sure the librarians forgot about this place, if the outdated books on the shelves were an indicator.

The teen sighed, laying on the couch with soft thump. It was sanctuary.

He numbly thought about how he and his friends had found this place and usually hung out there if they all had a free period. This year had been an unlucky one, with all of them having their free periods spread out. It made the place just a little emptier, especially as he thought over their last conversation.

"Jesus Christ." Karkat mumbled, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over himself. "Great fucking job, past Karkat. Look at what you got me into."

Still, he thought. They were talking crazy. Nothing happened when the portal turned on. Maybe it caught them by surprise, but...

_You aren't dead._

Exactly. The teen huffed, pulling the blanket over him even tighter as he thought over last night. There was no way he was dead. He felt his heart beat faster when gym started. He felt himself breath harder after the teacher had made them run laps around the track. Hell, he felt _pain_ after that idiot hit him with a basketball during break. The place where the ball made impact ached still.

"Screw it." He opened his backpack, grabbing a comic book he kept for emergency bouts of boredom. It was a rough day and some mindless, comic book violence would distract him. He'll think of a way to apologize later.

Reading over the pages and letting his mind take in the various colors, the panels kept him occupied. The story could be boring sometimes, but the romance parts were good. At least, when they actually got to those. The action scenes were cool too.

Karkat couldn't help but feel his eyes land on a particular panel. The hero (he didn't bother remembering his name) was jumping off a building headfirst, eventually moving forward and flying in the air. The wind was going through his hair, the smile on his face wide and inviting. He looked overjoyed.

It was a weirdly serene moment. The guy was just floating in thin air, going out on patrol without a care in the world. Not a single problem at all, like this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

It was... enviable.

Karkat wondered how that felt. It was probably easy to replicate through sky diving or hang gliding, but probably you wouldn't be able to just _float_ though. To be weightless. To feel like nothing, literally and figuratively, could hold you down. I would be nice to feel like that sometimes.

When he blinked his eyes and looked up finally, with face almost meeting the ceiling, he realized that maybe it wasn't as fun he thought it was.

"The fuck-?!" Karkat dropped the comic book as he kicked at the ceiling, sending him downwards. However, instead of falling to the floor and possibly injuring himself, he only stopped in mid-air, too far from the ceiling or floor. He flailed, twisting and turning relentlessly uselessly.

"Let me down, let me down, let me down, let me down." He continued the mantra as he moved about, trying to find something to hold on to. He looked at the bookshelf closest to him and reached out with a hand, stretching it out as far as he could go. Reach it, reach it, just _reach..._

And like he shot out of a cannon, Karkat moved towards it with unprecedented speed, hitting the books face first. The teen fell to the ground instantly, clutching his face and groaning loudly. He rolled on the ground for a couple seconds before taking his hands slowly off, breathing heavily. He looked at the space he previously occupied with wide eyes, slowly moving to get up by using the shelves behind him.

Trying to steady his breathing and his frantic heartbeat, he grabbed the comic book and stuffed it into his bag. He got up, keeping his eyes on the couch all the while, and inched away from the alcove little by little.

When he was able to get away far enough, Karkat turned and ran from the sanctuary, clutching his bag to him like a lifeline. His thoughts jumbled through his head, one after another, attempting to string them along into a coherent. He could hear the bell ring, but only dimly, barely registering it.

He had to find Sollux and Aradia.

* * *

"Look, he's been pretty stressed out about this, of course he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Doesn't mean he has to yell at us, AA!"

"We just need to give him a little time. He's probably feeling a guilty for yelling at us anyway."

"Still!"

Aradia and Sollux went back forth at the lunch table, the teens still reeling from earlier. Sollux wasn't exactly looking to forgive at the moment, made apparent as he clacked furiously away at his laptop. He wasn't really working on a specific code right now, but it was starting to look like one of his signature viruses. Maybe he'd try to make Karkat's computer explode today? He'd certainly gotten it to start smoking before due to overheating.

Aradia was attempting to calm him down before said computer would suffer for the actions of its master. "Just put away the computer before you do something you'll regret." She said, reaching for the laptop slowly before it was snatched away by the grumpy technophile. She groaned and put her head in her hands. "God, you boys are so emotional." She'd been trying to hold it together, but it was hard to do that when you were friends with the orneriest people in the universe.

"It's not my fault he doesn't want to accept what happened last night." Captor said dismissively, sighing as he slowed the clicking of the keyboard.

"Do _you_ even know what happened last night?" Aradia snapped, wincing at the frustrated tone in her voice. She saw her friends frown deepen, a scowl settling in.

"Maybe," His voice came out weak, causing him to clear his throat to save face. "Maybe I can know what happened if he man’s up and talks about it."

It wasn't a bad justification, Megido thought to herself. She certainly wanted clarification of whatever the hell was going on, but they weren't going to get anything through petty revenge. "He will. We just have to give him time, okay? He's deep in denial and won't talk about it until he's ready." She tried to give a comforting smile as she grabbed one of his hands. "Let's just go slow and I'm sure he'll come to."

Sollux tensed up at the physical contact but eased up not long after. He let out a sigh, trying to ignore the feeling of Aradia stroking his hand with her fingers. She had a point. But Karkat refused to talk about his problems until he couldn't push them off anymore. How long would it take for him to talk about whatever this was?

With a loud thump and sound of heavy breathing interrupting the calm moment seconds later, the answer was apparently not long.

Startled, the two separated at the sight of their sweating, out of breath friend standing in front of them. When Aradia opened up her mouth to ask just what the hell was happening, Karkat raised a finger up to stop her as he attempted to fill his lungs.

"Okay!" He said suddenly, moving into the seat in front of them clumsily. A manic smile on his face and a crazed look in his eyes, he looked at his friends and blinked slowly. "Am I interrupting something here?"

"No!" Aradia said suddenly, smiling nervously as the red-eyed teen turned his head lazily to her. "We weren't talking about you! Well, we were, but-"

"AA," Sollux interrupted, hand moving in front of her to stop her rambling. "I was planning on sending a few viruses to your computer. You want the one that sets all your fonts wrong, the one that moves every file around to the wrong place, or the one that'll publish your search history on your social media accounts."

"Surprise me." The other boy didn't seem to register the threat and looked out between the two. The frantic look remained as he quirked his lips into a strained smile. "Can we talk about last night? I just want to confirm some shit with you guys."

Aradia blinked at the sudden change in subjects and nodded before she could think through her response. "Uh, sure." He was usually more stubborn when he didn't want to do something, which made this very, very serious if he was willing to do it so quickly.

"I'm not dead, right?"

The question hit them like wave, dragging the table into silence. The two looked at him for a long moment, took a quick glance at each other. Sollux licked his lips, gulping. "What?"

"Am I dead or not?" Karkat said plainly, though his smile was turning into a more neutral expression. "Simple question. I'm pretty sure you guys are able to clarify."

“Wouldn’t you know that?” Aradia felt the question tumble out of her mouth, feeling regret surge as the neutral expression quickly turned to outright frustration.

“Because the dead don’t have heartbeats, and the living can’t **fucking** **_fly_.”** The anger was apparent and the change to the echo was obvious, causing his friends to shiver.

“Look,” Sollux he said, attempting to placate him. "Let's be calm about this, okay. Quit it with the scary voice and please, for the love of god, explain what the hell you're talking about."

**"What sc**ary voice?" Karkat said, leaning back. He shook his head and moved forward. "It's- I was just at our spot in the library and-"

"Vantas!"

The teen in question looked around before noticing Trizza Tethis, in all her bitchy pink glory, stalking towards them with a purpose. "Come on, not now." He stressed, putting his head in his hands while groaning.

Aradia instantly stood up and got in her line of sight, joined quickly by Sollux. Neither of them really wanted to deal with this either and Karkat looked way too stressed to be dealing with this right now.

"The hell do you want, Tethis? We're having a conversation, here." Aradia cocked her hip and glared at the girl in question. "We don't really have time for bullshit, so move along."

"What she said." Sollux let up a smirk, though he was wishing just as much that she would fuck off right now. "Besides, your phone is fried, so any video you had from yesterday is gone. Sorry about that, by the way."

"Not what I wanted to talk about, Lisp." Trizza stated, earning narrowed eyes from the two. "_I_ want to know why _his_ father is sticking flyers everywhere about some unveiling shit. He put ten of them on my new car!" She waved a set of flyers in her hand, which the two could tell from a distance was something Spades had printed out last minute. "I don't know what he's got planned for this, but he better not knock out power for the city again."

Aradia and Sollux could hear Karkat mutter quietly behind them, seeing him try to hide into himself out of the corner of their eyes. "It's another invention. That isn't really new." Aradia attempted to look bored and checked her nails. "If anything, you should be happy that he isn't messing with it and knocking the power grid out _right now_. You'll be prepared if it happens later."

"You can get a manicure or swim in your money pit later anyway." Sollux let out a derisive laugh.

"First of all, I was getting a pedicure last time he knocked out the power." Tethis rolled her eyes, settling to stand in front of them. She turned her glare full on to. "Secondly, I care about my appearance more than I care for whatever stupid bullshit your creepy crew are doing."

As the argument took a turn for the worse, Karkat tried to calm the growing headache, muttering random things under his breath. Mantras he learned in anger management, random math formula's he learned in Calculus, scientific crap his dad ranted about when he was working on a new invention, _anything_ that would cause the noise in his head to cease.

God, what was her problem? He had enough to deal with right now without hearing her voice complaining about whatever his dad was doing. He really wished he was anywhere but here. Just leave me alone, leave me alone, _leave me alone-_

"Fuck this!" Trizza moved forward, getting tired of the conversation quickly. She shoved to the two aside, already getting started on a tirade. "Vantas, you tell your dad not- where the fuck did he go?!"

Captor and Megido looked back, noticing their friend was missing. They looked at each other, alarmed, before looking around them to find out which way he went. They couldn't find him anywhere. Not even a little hint of where he could have gone.

"How- How the fuck?!" Trizza stomped and growled. She turned to the others, pointing at her eyes and back to them. "I'll be watching you assholes. When I see Vantas, I swear..." She didn't even bother to finish, moving to the doors of the lunchroom. Vague threats and mutterings of better things she could do with her time followed her departure as he slipped through the doors and moved out of view.

The teens looked at each other in confusion. "You think Karkat's learned some magic tricks before last night?" Sollux joked desperately, receiving a punch in the arm in response. His eyes were moving all across the cafeteria, failing to see their friend.

"He couldn't have gotten far. Maybe he just-" Aradia started but failed to continue as a sniffle cut her off. Sounding close, she swiveled and looked behind her only to see nobody there. Before she could dismiss it as a stress hallucination, she heard it come again.

From Karkat's seat.

"...Karkat?" She said tentatively, moving to the table and reaching out to the not-actually-empty space. Fingers reaching out tentatively, she grabbed at something and found purchase. She saw only air, but she could feel the cloth of a familiar jacket.

It turned out to be enough to bring Karkat back into reality, with him suddenly becoming visible. He looked panicked, his hands in front of him as he looked over them closely. His eyes were wide and small tears were trailing down.

He blinked and looked up at the two, trying to stifle the panicked shaking of his body. "What the hell am I?"

Aradia felt lost as she looked at the usually ornery guy in front of her who looked on the verge of a panic attack. It turned out, after stretch of silence, Sollux would be the one to say something.

"I don't know." The heterochromatic teen shrugged, taking a deep breath. Letting it out, he looked over the two in front of him.

"But we’re going to figure it out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... Karkat is Not Okay right now. But hey, if you want to make an omelette, you have to give an undead teenager a few mental breakdowns.
> 
> See you next chapter!


	4. Molecules, Rearranged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, another chapter up and running. Things will be going a little faster after this and we'll reach the canon events of Danny Phantom soon enough (tweaked to the insanity of Homestuck to keep the tone as well). I hope you enjoy this and I'll see you at the end of the chapter.

Holding it together was a lot more difficult of a task when you were almost slipping through the floor. Karkat had to figure it out the hard way as he attempted to make it through the rest of his classes.

Aradia and Sollux had to keep him focused on any tasks within their shared classes, along with avoiding everyone that was outside of the issue. Last thing they needed was for him to go viral after doing a vanishing act in the hallway. It hadn't been easy, but they pulled through well enough to at least get on the bus.

Other than Sollux making a brief stop at his house, making it back to Karkat's was fairly easy.

"You think your dad will be in the lab?" Aradia said as they marched up the steps, keeping an eye out for any nosy neighbors. Karkat simply shrugged, currently attempting to his focus on staying solid.

"If he is, you think maybe we should tell him about this? He might have an idea on what's going on." Sollux was planning to continue that line of thought, but Karkat turned around quickly to send him a glare. "What? I'm just saying, he probably knows more about this stuff then we think he does. He made the damn portal!"

Karkat shook his head vigorously. "Hell no! I can't tell him about this. I mean, I can't just go down there and say 'Hey Dad, you know that portal you created? Well, not only do you have proof of an alternate dimension, but I might be dead!'" Vantas groaned. "He worked on that stupid portal for years, going down there and telling him it killed me would drive him insane!"

"Hey, it was a suggestion." The other boy adjusted his glasses, sighing deeply. "We're just out of our depth here, so maybe having someone that knows about it would be a good idea. You agree with me on this, right Aradia?"

Aradia couldn't really look him in the eyes on that one. "Maybe."

"Maybe?!"

"Look," She stopped and looked her friend in the eye. "Karkat has a point. We don't know what's happening him or what the portal did, so maybe we should wait until we know a little bit better." She crossed her arms, giving out an authoritative presence. "Plus, if Karkat doesn't want to say anything, that's on him."

Sollux groaned in frustration, but slowly nodded. "Fine. But if something bad happens, we tell him."

"Agreed." Karkat moved up the steps of his house, reaching the door. Noticing a note on the outside, he ripped it off and looked it over. "It looks like he isn't even home, so we got the lab to ourselves."

"Guess he is putting posters up all-around town." Aradia said, following her friends inside after Karkat unlocked the door and they moved into the house.

The red-eyed boy couldn't help but shiver as they walked down the steps to the basement, feeling apprehensive about this. He didn't necessarily want to step into the lab if he could help it, but it was stocked with some medical equipment that they could use.

For what, he didn't necessarily know, but he felt better knowing it was there.

Thankfully, it didn't look like Spades was messing with anything volatile before he left to do his advertising, so they were free to do whatever it was they wanted. Aradia was already heading over the medical kit while Sollux moved to an unoccupied table and opened up whatever was in the box he picked up earlier.

Moving to a metal chair and plopping down, Karkat sighed. "So, we just run a medical checkup on me and see if I'm doing alright. Other than that, I don't know what the hell we should do."

"I think there might be a few ecto-detectors in here. Maybe you got some ectoplasm stuck in your system and we can flush it out." Sollux provided, still messing with the contents of his box. "Who knows, maybe this'll all get better before we know it."

"Doubtful." Aradia pulled out a thermometer and a stethoscope, along with anything else she believed would be useful. "If there was anything that would disappear, then it would be gone by now." She stopped to look at what he was doing in his own corner. "What did you even bring?"

"I picked up a drone from my house. Figured that we need to know something _about_ the Ghost Zone while we try to figure out what's going on with KK, so maybe having a little look might clear some things up."

"You sure that thing won't fry as soon as it gets in the portal? We probably won't be getting it back if it falls into a ghostly abyss, dude." Karkat looked over the little device as his friend fiddled with it.

"If your dad gets rich off the portal, then he'll get him a new one." Grabbing the various medical supplies, Aradia moved to Karkat and plopped them down on the nearest table. "Okay, while you do that surveillance thing, me and Karkat will go over his vitals. Maybe we'll figure something out from that."

"Cool." Sollux moved to the portal and pressed the button, opening it up for the three of them. He stopped to stare into the swirling, green mass, almost mesmerized by the opening between worlds. "I'm not going to get used to seeing this thing. This is all _really_ messed up."

"Agreed." The two in the back replied with no hesitation. Aradia looked on in wonder a bit, before shaking her head and biting her lip. She shouldn't be amazed by what she's seeing. She had work to do, she thought solemnly.

Karkat, to his credit, didn't flinch as he watched the portal. A deep part of him couldn't help but sit there in with utter contempt. And why wouldn't he? The fucking thing killed him and practically taunted him with that fact by working perfectly. Like the only factor for its previous failures was because it didn't have an unsuspecting victim within its maw.

He couldn't help but feel like he was made an unwilling sacrifice in a ritual he didn't know he took part in.

Before his thoughts could get more morbid, Karkat received a light _thonk_ on the head by Aradia. Looking over at her with annoyance, she just raised an eyebrow and waved a thermometer at him.

"Okay, before you two start roleplaying, let me start this shit up." Sollux took a chair and moved it next to Karkat, opening up a laptop. Pressing a few buttons, the drone near the portal lit up and the propellers moved experimentally.

"Still think it'll be useless." Karkat mumbled as the thermometer was almost shoved into his mouth.

"Hey, least its distracting. Plus, do you really want to think about Aradia carrying around medical equipment?"

"Hey!" Aradia laughed jovially as she moved through the kit, checking over what else she could find. "I've been to the doctors enough to know what to look for. Besides, I'm staying away from the knives this time."

"Thank Christ." Karkat found himself chuckling despite himself. The camera's booting up on the drone did distract him a bit. Sollux made sure it lifted off smoothly with the hours of practice he most likely put into it.

"Into the wild green yonder." The dual-colored boy unceremoniously moved the drone into the ether that was the Ghost Zone.

A collective sigh of relief came over them as it didn't immediately malfunction when it went inside, though they were left quiet as the expanse took on a 3D feel to it. No longer blurry, they could see actual pieces of matter in the distance, floating in an expanse that never seemed to truly end. There was no way to tell distance due to lack of scale, but it looked deep.

Like the ocean, Karkat thought to himself. Deep depths that no one has ever reached, under threat of death due to either the high pressures of creatures from down below.

He had to explore the ocean one day. It was always his dream to, and this ghost crap wasn't going to stop him.

Again, he was ripped out of his thoughts when Aradia took out the thermometer, giving a studious frown. "Okay, I'm pretty sure that isn't normal."

"What? Can't be that much higher than normal." Karkat raised an eyebrow, feeling some panic set in.

"That's because it isn't higher than normal, it's fucking _lower_. It's at 72.3!" She waved it around, causing the boy to lean back. "If you had a fever, that would be fine, but this sure isn't."

Sollux took a deep breath. "Okay, that's not good." He curled his fingers, tightening them into fists and letting them go after a few seconds. "I'm moving towards one of floating islands right now. Or it could be a tiny planet. You think it's orbiting anything?"

"Don't know." Karkat said, deciding to move things along. Hey, what do you know, this is a good distraction. Absolutely _no_ anxiety about the thermometer and the _wrong _temperature you have now. Look at the pretty colors, Vantas, they're here to amuse you.

Aradia huffed. Picking up a stethoscope, she grabbed Karkat's shirt up roughly and put it up to where a lung was supposed to be. He immediately took a deep breath and almost pushed her away if it wasn't for how hard she moved it up. "Breath in and out. Slowly."

He complied as best he could, feeling the air enter his lungs and deliberately holding it in for a few seconds. It was let out shortly, slow and careful. Thankfully, Aradia didn't pull a face as he kept doing it and eventually pulled away.

Karat's eyes wandered to the screen again, watching the landmass get closer and closer. Little formations could be seen now, but it was still too far to see. Was the landmass small and far away, or was it large and the perspective made things wonky? He was so focused on it he didn't bother to resist feeling the cold stethoscope go over his heart.

Aradia mentally counted how many beats her friends' heart was putting out, the number being worryingly low. It kept going at its own pace, beating at a snail's pace. It wasn't struggling as far as she could tell, but it wasn't going as fast as it should.

"Your heart rate is nearly nonexistent." She was starting to be thankful for the brief period where she wanted to be a doctor and looked over medical books for fun. The gory stuff may have given Karkat and Sollux nightmares, but it was good summer reading in her opinion.

"Some athletes know how to lower their resting heart rate?" Karkat received a deadeye stare in response. He sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I know I'm being difficult. But this is hard, okay? I- I honestly don't know what's going on and I fucked up when I walked into that stupid fucking portal…" He trailed off and took a shaky breath.

Aradia sighed along with him. "It's hard for us too. I don't know what happened in there, but we need to move past this. I'm glad that you're at least trying, but some of us…" She trailed off and looked at Sollux, who didn't seem to be paying attention to them. Or, at least, he was pretending he wasn't.

"Yeah." The red-eyed boy gave her a shaky smile. "Thanks. You two have been a big help and I don't say it enough. So… thanks."

She smiled back and put a hand on his shoulder. "Anytime. We're here for you."

It was a wonderful silence, but it was shortly interrupted by Sollux letting out a small gasp and pushing the screen towards them. "Guys, shut up and take a look at this!"

They blinked and moved to watch the screen as their friend moved to sit beside them. Looking it over, the noticed that Sollux had moved close enough to the landmass to see something that looked a little like…

"Buildings?" Aradia moved closer, squinting, before starting to jump in place with an excited look on her face. "Holy crap, there's ruins in there?!"

Indeed, there were several ruins located on the little meteor, dotting the landscape in brief numbers. The remains of houses, temples, and maybe a few cultural sites looked long abandoned, crumbling to the elements (implicating that the Ghost Zone had weather that could erode buildings over time). They weren't close enough to get more details, but they could tell there was some carvings on the buildings themselves

"Holy shit." Karkat muttered. People fucking lived in there?! They must've, otherwise there wouldn't be ruins. Jesus, his dad really did make the scientific discovery of the century. He checked the battery life and reared back a little. "We might have to back off, we're down to 62% battery life."

"What? I modded this thing so it can stay on for _days_, how is already down to 60?" Sollux grabbed the laptop back and figured out Karkat wasn't remotely lying. "Shit. I'll get it back here."

"I guess electronics don't really fry, but the batteries sure do." Aradia said, though she still looked excited. "You think we'll be able to get in there at some point? I _really_ want to see what's inside those ruins."

"Maybe." Karkat said noncommittally. Maybe the ectoplasm was draining the battery or something. Ghosts were known to do that pretty often, usually in relation to their ecto-signature having a latent effect on the surrounding environment. What the hell would it do to people though?

Did ghosts actually live there too?

As a response to the unaired question, something seemed to fly by one of the side cameras of the drone.

"The fuck?!" Karkat launched himself backward, blinking rapidly. The two looked him strangely before turning their attention back to the screen. "Please tell me I'm not the only one that saw that?!"

"Saw what?" The two asked, only to be answered by another blur on the screen, this time in the front camera.

Sollux paused, blinking at the screen with wide eyes. "…Somethings alive in there." He said quietly, still pushing at the buttons to make the drone move closer to the exit. "Something is _alive_ in there."

"Did you see anything? What does it look like?" Aradia attempted to get a closer look but was shoved aside by an ever panicking Sollux. "Look, if somethings in there, we should try and get a look at it while we still can."

"We are not dragging some eldritch piece of shit out here just to satisfy your curiosity!" Karkat moved back to the seat he previously occupied, frantically grabbing onto Sollux's shoulders. "Dude, get that fucking thing out of there before it leads it outside of the portal!"

"I'm trying, man, but pressing buttons harder doesn't exactly make it go faster." To his credit, the dual-colored boy was attempting to make small evasive maneuvers, but it was difficult to do that with something that flew with the grace of a baked potato.

The thing- ghost? -moved in front of it again, faster this time and starting to move about it in a pattern. Swirling and swirling around it, it started to become a green blur that became hard to track, moving too fast for their eyes to see. The blur almost became all encompassing, blocking the sights of the camera. The portal looked so close…

The three jumped in their seats as a loud popping noise as the drone slipped through, dying as the last of the battery made it go to a sudden descent onto the lab floor. Sollux was the first one to jump up and get to it, inspecting it carefully. Letting out a pained whine, he lifted it up in the air.

"It's freaking dead! Thank god it didn't break and all, but it should still have plenty of battery life left. Freaking ghost zone crap." He practically hugged and petted its propellers softly. "I promise I'll give you plenty of charging when I get home."

"It'll be okay." Aradia laughed softly, patting Sollux on the back with an amused grin. "You're little heli-baby will be fine."

Karkat, meanwhile, was making a beeline to the button to close the portal. "While you two play House, I'm going to make sure whatever the fuck doesn't get through the portal." He shook his head and kept his eye close on said portal. "Seriously, what the fuck-"

The next words to come out of his mouth were interrupted as he coughed suddenly, and painfully. Stopping him in his tracks, a few more coughs brought him to his knees, as he badly tried to suppress them. Breathing deeply between each one, red eyes closed tight as he punched his chest a couple of times.

He felt the familiar feeling of hands attempting to pull him upwards as Sollux and Aradia moved to his side.

"Dude, what the fuck's happening? Been a while since you swallowed your own spit while ranting." Sollux looked him over as the coughs kept wracking out of his body, a wheeze slipping past his friends' lips.

"This isn't normal. He was breathing just fine a few minutes ago, what the hell is making him…" Aradia trailed off as she saw _something _try to slip past the hands Karkat held to his face. She squinted, reaching a hand carefully up there and moved his hand away slowly.

As soon as that happened, a faint trail of smoke billowed past Karkat's lips, filling the room with the smell of a forest fire. Blacker than ash, it slowly moved out and above them, disappearing in the cold air of the lab as soon it appeared. It trailed out slowly as the coughs gave way to whimpers.

"…Jesus Christ, can I breathe _fire?!_"

Before the question be answered by a possibly sarcastic response, the silence was punctured by a soft, wet _splat_.

The portal, open in its glory and malic, had a tentacle poking out of it, radiating intent. Slithering out further into the lab, another tentacle joined it by getting into the open air, and then another. The number of tentacles drove up to eight, finally gaining purchase as it pulled a bulbous, green head out of the portal.

Red eyes moved all across the room, taking in every detail, before moving to other three beings in the room.

Karkat looked the thing right in the eyes and whispered to his friends. "Run."

The three instantly started sprinting towards the exit of the lab, the screech of that _thing_ ringing through the air. Footsteps on the metal were drowned out as it started flying towards them, moving past them and reaching the doorway, blocking it with its tentacles.

"Shit." The teens stopped, skidding a little before slowly moving back, watching as it moved itself closer to them. If they hadn't known any better, they could have sworn that it had a toothy grin on it's as it slithered to them. The room felt colder and colder the farther they moved back, the imposing power of the ghost portal filling them with more dread.

Karkat looked around the room, panic slowly etching its way onto his face. "Of course, the only weapons in the room are far away from us." He said to himself. "The one time a fucking ghost shows up, and we can't get a _fucking. Weapon._"

The cold feeling of the portal was getting to him, along with the panicked whimpering of his friends behind him. They looked ready to fight, but eight arms against six wasn't exactly going to cut it. Probably didn't matter if they added their legs to the fight. Don't focus on the portal, Karkat, just get them out of here. Just get them out of here and get yourself out of there too.

Karkat couldn't help but let out a high-pitched laugh. Of course, the portal couldn't settle for him, could it? It had to drag them down with him. It was out for blood. And it sent this thing to kill them.

"Just couldn't have one of us, could you?" The red-eyed teen giggled, taking another step back while staring at the monster in front of him. The portal was only a few steps away now. "Decided that you had to send a lackey and get us all. Complete the collection, right?" Another laugh slipped past his lips.

He was brought back to reality when he felt a hand land on his shoulder and Sollux shout in his ear. "Dude, stop acting crazy, we go to-"

And suddenly, his voice was cut off as a tentacle had sneakily grabbed at his leg, pulling it out from under him. Dangling in the air, the other teens watched helplessly as he kicked at the offending tentacle, cursing. "Put me down you motherfucker!"

Then it laughed.

_It fucking laughed._

Karkat didn't necessarily feel fear anymore, mostly because anger quickly took it over. He felt his heart stop and his body go cold, fists tightening as a scowl fit onto his face. Not thinking, he took a step forward and started to yell.

"Put him down," He said, a ring of light flitting over his stomach. "You go_**ddamn ectopus!" **_ He took another step, the rings going over his body slowly enveloping him. Taking another step, he launched himself at it, fist raised.

The ectopus, finally turning to the voice in surprise, was met with a black and white, hazmat covered fist to its face.

The ghost, knocked back a bit from the sudden blow, dropped Sollux on the floor. It screeched, not fond of the perceived new arrival. Flinging several tentacles at him, Karkat slipped dodged by flying to the side and continuing the assault, launching another fist to its face and landing on one red, bulbous eye.

The knockback pushed it against the wall, causing the creature to panic and screech louder. Flailing blindly, it grabbed Karkat and pulled him towards its mouth. Before the jaws could snap shut, the ghost kid's hands moved to its teeth, pushing them apart to prevent the maw from devouring him. Growling, he sent a kick upward, clumsily flying backwards as the jaws shut with whine.

A sick part of Karkat grinned as the creature looked at him fearfully. _**"Not so tough now, are you?" **_His echoey voice reverberated off the walls, making the echo more noticeable and intimidating. _**"Should have stayed in the fucking portal."**_

Aradia, meanwhile, had moved to Sollux and pulled up the groaning boy. She shivered as her friend taunted it with a tone, she hadn't heard from him before.

Sollux could only stare at the hazmat suit as the person wearing it floated in mid-air.

"_**Now." **_Karkat tilted his head, his neck making a loud _crick_, still smiling at the quivering mass of ectoplasm before him. It turned into a deep frown, his glare causing it to shiver even more as his taunting voice turned into a low growl. _**"I'm going to have to ask you leave my fucking house!"**_

Taking advantage of its fear, it grabbed several of its tentacles, flipping it over onto the floor of the lab with painful sounding squish. Before the ectopus could think about getting up, Karkat flew at it with a kick, sending it screeching past his friends as it tumbled into the portal, tentacles and all. The red-eyed boy moved to the portal's button and slammed it, closing it for good.

For a small stretch of silence, the room was filled with the sound of heavy breathing as Aradia and Sollux stared at the hazmat wearing teen in front of them. Karkat was attempting to slow down his breathing. It was a calm moment before the boy let out a triumphant cry and turned to them.

"Did you _see _that shit?!" He said, floating upwards and punching the air. "I kicked that fucking octopus' ghost's incorporeal ass! Jesus Christ, is this why Dad does this shit? It's freaking amazing!"

The two watched in stunned confusion as their friend floated around in an adrenaline-fueled happiness, flitting around and going higher as he celebrated. It took a few seconds for Aradia to raise a hand and wave a little. "Karkat?"

"Yeah?" Currently upside down and looking downward, red eyes blinked in response.

"You're floating again." She said calmly. Seeing him do a double take would've been funny, but she was busy latching on to Sollux, who had still remained silent.

"Huh." Slowly floating downward until his feet met the floor, he looked at his hands and gave them an experimental squeeze. "I'm in the suit again? That's weird, that things still in the closet." He blinked, a concerned look appearing on his face. "Is this because the portal blasted me while wearing it? I mean, it's not _that _bad, but still."

"You're taking this surprisingly well." Aradia would've thought so too if it wasn't for the fact that the adrenaline in her system was going down as her heartbeat calmed. The fight was over and _holy shit, she could've died back there._

"Trust me, I'll freak out later." He waved off the concern. "At least this answered one question. I can switch to being… _whatever_ this is, but I don't know how. I mean, I can imagine having a heartbeat again like las time or- dude, are you crying?"

Sollux had remained silent, moving slowly out of the grasp of Aradia to move towards his glowing friend. He was, in fact, crying but he didn't seem to be consciously doing so. He reached out a hand to Karkat's face, tilting it slightly to look into the red eyes.

Silent for a couple of seconds, his words came out warbled as he stared into them. "We killed you."

Karkat flinched at that, unsure what to say at this change.

"We fucking killed you." Sollux moved his hand to Karkat's neck, feeling for a pulse. "You aren't breathing, you don't have a pulse, and you can fly. You died in that portal because we asked you to go in it. Why did we ask you to go _in?"_

The red-eyed boys shoulders slouched, a small frown moving onto his lips. "I could've said no. This isn't your fault."

"Bullshit." The calm look on Sollux's face crumbled as he moved forward, holding onto him as little sobs escaped him. "We fucking killed you."

Karkat didn't do anything at first. Clenching his fists, he closed his eyes and attempted to think about his heart beating again. Feeling blood go through his veins and air in his lungs.

It was weird thinking about it like that, but it was surprisingly easy to know the difference when he couldn't feel it all.

The light appeared at his stomach and moved over him once more, making him look human again. And just like that, his heart had seemingly started up again and he felt himself take a deep breath.

"Hey," Karkat said softly, moving Sollux away from him. He did his best to ignore the pitiful look on his friend's face. "We figured out some stuff today and I can easily say I'm not dead. We just need some more time to get a handle on things. This is all our faults and we'll do our best to fix it ourselves." He leaned in close. "Got it?"

To his credit, the dual colored boy wiped at his eyes and gave a simple nod. A look to Aradia confirmed that she had been crying too, or at least was on the verge. If they wanted to get past this, they all needed to put an effort to making the best of it.

Karkat sighed. They did a lot of the work till now. It was his turn now.

"Okay," He clapped his hands together, looking at them both. "I now know how to get into that 'other' form now. I'm thinking that since we have the weekend to ourselves, that means we have several tests to run." He moved his hands out in front of them. "You guys want to keep moving forward for today, or do you want to go home?"

The other two teens looked at each other cautiously before giving Karkat a solemn nod. With a smile that was only partially convincing, he attempted to make a joke.

"Let's see if I can get into that other form without being in a fucked-up situation."

* * *

It was hours later, Karkat sitting at his desk, when he pored over the notes they were able to take after his friends decided to help him with the 'research.'

Comparisons on his human form and his 'other' form. The change in heartbeat (from slow to none), his body temperature (from 72 to _36_), and other observations dealing with his appearance (photo negative coloring, except for his eyes). It was all very interesting and written out very carefully, especially for three teenagers.

Written proof that something had changed.

Karkat took a shaky breath, putting his head in his hands. Taking a few seconds to collect himself, he closed the notebook and moved to hide it under his mattress. He'd have to find a better place for it so his dad wouldn't find it, but it was good enough for the time being.

Moving onto the bed, he stared up at the ceiling, attempting to void the thoughts running through his mind. Something had changed now, and he was finally beginning to accept it.

He took another deep breath, closing his eyes and willing them to do _something_. He wasn't exactly sure what, but this was the last chance he'd have to be able to deny everything. To ignore what happened and move on with the weirdness that was his life.

_You're not dead._

Opening his eyes and seeing the ceiling glow red above him, he realized he had no idea what the fuck he was going to do next.

Somehow, he knew that feeling wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was my first ever time writing a fight scene! Probably could've done better, but I guess I couldn't give Karkat too complicated of a fight. Besides, the ectopus are cannon fodder until he starts getting up to bigger prey.
> 
> Again, we'll be reaching canon events next chapter and I hope you're all ready for it. See you in the next chapter!


	5. Mystery Meat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is earlier than when I usually post this. The chapter was originally going to be longer, but I figured splitting it would be a better idea for now to make sure chapters aren't too long.
> 
> Also, newsflash; for anyone that doesn't read the only other story I consistently update here (I know there's one or two of you), I'll be in between jobs soon and I am currently in emotional hell because of it (probably why this chapter came out so fast was because I was trying to vent it out). None of that will mess with the update schedule though, so don't don't worry about it. I'll get back up on my feet in no time.
> 
> Anyway, back onto the show. Hope you enjoy this next chapter, especially since it came out earlier than usual!

Invisibility.

Intangibility.

Ghost sense.

Increased strength.

And flight.

These were the powers that Karkat had at his disposal, and he had some mixed feelings about it.

Looking out the window of the bus, the teen couldn't help but sigh as he thought over the weekend he and his friends had had.

They figured that (after getting their homework done) that they should spend the weekend determining just _what _he could or couldn't do. Even if it didn't explain exactly what happened, it would help make them understand what exactly they should expect. They even did it in the park the town was named after to make sure they had plenty of space to work with.

Several facts were noted down during their experiments.

1\. He could fly on command and most, if not all, detrimental effects involved were clocked down to zero. While the same couldn't be said for any passengers, he could easily reach speeds of 60-75 miles per hour. He didn't try to go any faster due to lack of time, but the fact he could reach those speeds was staggering.

2\. The "ghost sense" that he had tested with his friends was not something they could physically trigger. As long as a ghost or ghostly entity was in the area, it would activate and help him track it by coming out as smoke. They only figured out it was a regular power after it went off when another ectopus tried to step out of the portal (which was promptly closed before it could get out).

3\. He wasn't too much stronger than before, definitely not able to lift double his weight. It was about 50 pounds more than he could normally, which they all suspected could increase if he worked out enough.

4\. All of the powers mentioned above can be used in either form, but his human form limited their effectiveness.

It was a good list for now, if he could say so himself. Of course, he had other questions as to what he could do, but some of them were not exactly things he was willing to try just yet. Phasing other objects through walls, making other objects go invisible, possession...

Karkat shivered involuntarily. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know if he could do that last one. He was fine piloting his own fucking meatsuit, thank you very much.

God, this was complicated. At least they had some answers right now.

Speaking of 'they,' Karkat felt the seat shift as Sollux plopped down beside him, mumbling a tired greeting as Aradia moved into the seat in front of them energetically. At least today was starting out pretty normal.

"Alright, my sweet boys!" Aradia had already turned around to look at them, a manic gleam in her eye. "I know these past few days have been stressful and all, but I think it's about time to get back to some of our regular shenanigans."

"I don't remember the goth kids pulling any shit since Thursday." Sollux shifted in his seat to look at her in the eye. "Or are we focusing on a new target?"

"Neither. I just really feel like we need to do something mischievous this week, otherwise we'll all have mental breakdowns before Wednesday." The teen grabbed something out of her backpack, palming several pink spheres in her hand. "I heard some football players were getting high and mighty and hurt some kids in the chess club. Real 'teen movie' type stuff. I was thinking adding some color to their wardrobe would set them straight."

"These things won't make too loud a noise, right?" Karkat grabbed one carefully, looking it over. "Just to know whether or not we should run as fast as possible when we put them in- where do you want us to put them?"

"In their backpacks." Aradia smiled widely. "And look at you getting into it! Been itching to do something fun?"

"He's probably itching to do something _normal, _AA. Hell, I'd normally say this is a bad idea, but even I don't care." He crossed his legs, pulling out his phone. "Least my dads aren't on my case about what we were doing out in the park. They're usually surprised I even go outside when I'm not with you guys."

"Well, you need more exercise then." The bi-colored teen tried to avoid the cheek pinching his friend was giving him, but she caught him anyway. He rubbed at it as she continued. "Besides, it isn't a bad idea at all. We just can't get caught while doing it."

"Caught doing what? Sucking each other off?"

The mood instantly soured as the three turned to Trizza Tethis, who had rudely decided to insert herself into the conversation.

"What do you want, Tethis? We're busy living our own lives, unlike you." Karkat started to sit up straighter, realizing something. "And you're on the bus too? Isn't that 'above you' or something?"

"It is, but Mum decided she needed my convertible for her latest crisis on her age or something." Trizza sneered at the three. "I've actually been meaning to talk with you about some shit. Namely, your bug-fuck crazy dad."

She took a step forward, pushing Sollux out of her way with an indignant hand. "I don't know what exactly he's planning or anything, but if he's doing something with that 'portal' of his, I'm gonna' have to ask you to kick that shit to the curb. We don't need another explosion going off and knocking off half the power to the city again, y'hear?"

Karkat rolled his eyes and glared right into her eyes. "I can't promise he won't blow anything up, but I'd prepare to have it be your mind instead, Tethis."

Scoffing, the girl in pink stood up and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. If some freak shit happens, I'll know exactly who to blame."

Karkat couldn't help but feel his eye twitch at the comment, anger boiling under his skin as he kept his eyes on her. When she turned around, he automatically moved the hand holding one of the pink paint spheres in it and moved it _into _her bag with his intangibility. He didn't realize what he did until the ball was already gone, and she was walking away from them and heading for the front of the bus.

Blinking, he looked at his friends incredulously, but they were too busy fuming.

"God, I really don't get what her problem is." Sollux groaned and hit his head on the back of his seat. "You'd think she'd just get on with her life, but she's just as stubborn as AA."

"Hey, don't compare me to her!" Aradia said indignantly. "I'm only a tough bitch when the situation calls for it." She laughed to herself before shaking her head. "It really is annoying how she just won't stop. Maybe she has a crush on one of us."

"Oh god, don't give me nightmares." Karkat ran his hand down his face. "You're making me wish I stuck more of those paintballs in her bag."

They paused and looked at him weirdly. "When and _how_ did you do that?" Aradia asked quizzically.

He simply waved his hand in a 'magical' gesture, causing them to stop instantly and blank looks moving onto their faces. Before he could begin to regret the decision, he started to regret it for _different_ reasons as Megido started to smile _very_ widely.

"Oh my god, the possibilities! I never thought of the possibilities!" She laughed evilly to herself, clapping her hands. "You can move through shit and turn invisible; how did I not think of this before?! So many plans to create!" She gasped and moved down in her seat, muttering a quick 'be right back' followed by the sound of a notebook being opened and pencil scratching.

Karkat couldn't help but feel dread dip into his core. He just doomed everyone in his school by giving Aradia some new tools for her mischief.

Great job, Vantas. Fantastic job all around.

He was pulled out of the pity party when he felt a tapping at this shoulder. Sollux gave him a pensive look.

"I'm glad that you found a positive side to all of this," He started, sending a look to the seat in front of him warily. "But do you think it might be time to mention to your dad about all of this?"

Karkat stiffened at that but nodded slowly. "Probably. I think we can say that I'm not dying with some confidence now. Not entirely sure how he'll like the whole…" He trailed off, waving his hand in the same 'magical' gesture he did earlier.

"I'm sure he won't mind." The teen shrugged, trying to remain relaxed about all this. "You might even be another breakthrough for paranormal research. 'The Ghost Kid' or something." Phone still out, he messed around with a few apps, trying to find a suitable gaming one. "He didn't care when you came out as pan, remember? I'm sure he'll be fine about this."

Karkat did nod at that, feeling a little more confident. Spades was more than okay with him after he came out last year. Just as long as he didn't date a "fucking jackass," he wasn't forbidden to date anyone at all.

"I'll think about it. Maybe I'll even talk to him about it after school ends today."

His friend was satisfied by the answer, at least for the moment, deciding to let it rest. Karkat watched as he attempted to reach the high score of whatever game he was playing today, adding in the occasional, not-so-helpful commentary.

He'd tell him today.

Then everything'll be normal again.

* * *

"This is beyond fucked."

Spades rolled his eyes and moved around the lab, finishing up the latest invention. "Could at least act a little impressed, Captor. You are seeing this before anyone else, feel honored or something!"

He spoke to a man dressed in casual clothing, ones that showed some wear and tear. Looking much like the son Spades had met a hundred times, he ruffled at shaggy blonde hair and adjusted his glasses hiding heterochromatic eyes. He was standing in front of the open Ghost Portal.

"I'm not saying that this isn't a huge achievement and all," Solluxander* Captor the First* (Xander to his friends) stood at the mouth of it, eye twitching. "But you are literally going to have every religious group after you when you show this off. All of them."

"They'll thank me for providing a possible answer! Why is that so hard to understand?" Spades turned one final screw and pushed the project aside. "Besides, the government is looking to make ectoplasm an eco-friendly source of energy, so this is a win-win."

"Somehow, I don't think any ghosts would appreciate being colonized for free energy." Mr. Captor took a step back, turning to face the man working at the table. "Speaking of which has anything…?" He pointed at the portal nervously, eyebrow raised.

Spades sighed and moved towards the man. "No, nothing's come out of it. Your kid actually brought a drone here to take a look inside and got some _amazing _footage out of it. Have to thank him for that later. Just tell me what he has on wish list or something and I'll buy it for him."

"I'll consider it." Xander tapped his foot impatiently. "Not sure if I want my kid near the thing, to be honest. Bad enough he was here when you turned it on. He looked pretty pale when he came home last week." A thought entered his mind. "_If_ something comes out from the other side, do you actually something to catch it with?"

"Glad you asked!" Spades held up the invention he was working on, putting it up into the eerie light of the portal. "This here is the top of the line of ghost hunting equipment! Can catch anything with an ectoplasmic signature."

"…It looks like a soup thermos."

"I had to improvise." Spades twirled the thing around. "Showed it to Karkat this morning and he said the same thing. I'd brand it the Slick Thermos if didn't so cheesy. I'll come up with something eventually."

"Alright." Xander could only shrug, taking one final look at the portal before putting his full attention on the man in front of him. "I'm assuming you brought me here for more than show and tell."

"Yeah!" Switching topics instantly, Spades motioned for him to come upstairs. "I wanted to send out some invites to the showing for the portal. Mostly to some buddies of mine, some scientific minds. Maybe everyone who told me I was nuts during high school…"

"Is this really a scientific unveiling or just a middle finger to those who were mean to you in high school?" The gangly man moved behind Slick raising an eyebrow.

"It can be both!"

As the two continued to talk on, leaving the portal to close behind them, something slipped between the cracks of the portal as it closed. While remaining invisible to the world, the being slipped through the lab, moving to the surface above quietly.

The being floated weightlessly above the house, as if looking for something, invisible eyes wandering through every nook and cranny of the street, before settling its eyes on its chosen destination.

A female voice breathed in a fake breath, before letting out a joyful sigh at seeing Casper High in the distance.

"Can't be late for work." It said, humming a happy tune as started heading to the high school.

* * *

Sitting in the lunchroom, the trio were stifling cackles of amusement, Aradia especially. Judging from the pink jackets and school supplies on some disgruntled football players, their plan had gone off without a hitch.

"I can't believe it worked so well!" The girl laughed to herself, doing her best not to get into hysterics. "I can't believe you got it into their lockers! And nothing got on the lockers themselves?"

"We figured the janitor had enough shit to deal with. Really difficult, but I we pulled it off pretty well." Sollux took a swig of his soda proudly, smirking. "Then again, couldn't have done it without KK getting into their lockers."

"You better fucking believe it." Said teen couldn't help but feel proud of the accomplishment as well. "Gotta' say, I'm still almost falling through floors and shit, but these powers might not be too bad. I think this is the first time we've ever gotten away with this shit before."

"Yeah, you're right!" Aradia slammed her hand down onto the table. "Maybe we've been thinking about this all wrong! I mean, this still sucks, but maybe we can have some fun with it. God, I haven't laughed in days." She sat back in her chair, smiling softly. "I think we finally found a bright side to the situation. Bout time."

"So, no lecture about great powers and great responsibilities, right?" Karkat joked, sending the table into a fit of laughter again. He couldn't help but feel happy that it was him that did it.

It was nice to laugh. It really was. He knew his friends were probably torturing themselves over this ghost crap since he 'died,' so seeing them happier than they've been in days was a relief. Maybe these freaky powers could be useful for something more than keeping him up at night.

Who knows? Maybe telling his dad after school would go over fine after all. If these two idiots can accept it after knowing about it after a week, then his dad could get used to it too.

"So," Sollux started, swishing his soda and glancing at Aradia casually. "Any other ideas? Considering we got that out of our system, I'd say this is the start of a beautiful pranking spree."

Karkat smirked. "I think I have a few ideas myself. I mean, they aren't great but-"

Then he started coughing.

The sudden hitch in his breath caught him off guard, rattling him once again. Pounding his hand against the table, he wrestled with his throat and got himself under control.

"Jesus, sorry about that. Don't know where that shit came from." The boy laughed and opened his eyes, trying to send a reassuring look to his friends. "Might need some water. Sollux, mind giving me..."

He trailed off when he noticed several, very concerning things. One, his friends were done laughing now and they were just staring at him with muted horror on their faces. Two, they were practically clutching at the table, knuckles white and fingers digging into wood. Lastly, they were staring at the smoke.

The smoke coming from his mouth.

"..._fuck_." The red-eyed teen said quietly, looking around himself quickly. God, did one of those ectopus things follow him to school?! That would be bad, really, really bad. He couldn't wrestle that thing back to the Ghost Zone from here, somebody could get hurt! Did it sneak into the school while he wasn't looking!?

He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder shaking him, belonging to Sollux. He motioned him to be quiet, pointing around at the cafeteria. 'Too many people here,' was what he was trying to convey, Aradia only proving his point as she looked around them to see if anyone else saw the smoke.

Karkat nodded shortly, focusing on the room around him. No alarms were going off, so obviously it wasn't in any other part of the school yet. No one was screaming either, so if it was here, it wasn't causing trouble yet. Then where the fuck was it? He's only seen these things twice now, but they didn't seem smart enough to initiate a sneak attack.

While nothing was wrong with the students, the trio couldn't help but noticed a door to the cafeteria open, a dazed lunch lady stepping out. She took a few steps away from the door before leaning on the wall, eyes glazed and blinking rapidly. The three looked at each other before making a moved towards the woman, leaving their lunches behind.

"Uh, Doris?" Karkat ventured out carefully, hesitating as the woman's gaze snapped to him. He was glad he bothered to learn some of the faculties names after working at retail over the summer. Nothing makes you more sympathetic to people who do those jobs more than having one of them yourself. "Everything alright? You don't look too well."

Doris blinked a few more times, not fully registering the trio's presence. Before one of them could ask again, her head snapped up and she nodded quickly.

"Yes." She said curtly, already moving towards the doors leading further into the school. "Lisa decided to take my shift today. Everything's fine."

He was reflexively nodding, watching her stumble her way to the door, before a though occurred to him. Looking at his friends, he gave them a questioning look. "Who the hell is Lisa?"

Karkat's anxiety spiked as they shrugged.

They all looked to the closed door of the kitchen. The woman's behavior could be explained as job stress or a midlife crisis, but it seemed like it was too big of a coincidence. Besides, pardoning the pun, it did seem like she saw a ghost or something.

Karkat took a look around before giving his friends the side eye. "See anyone looking in our direction?"

Sollux and Aradia gave the room a sweep, noting nobody else had noticed anything just yet. "We're in the clear." Aradia reported, warily taking a look back at the door behind them.

"Yeah. So, any idea how we're going insid-" Sollux started. He was interrupted when he felt a cold hand touch his neck and pulled him back. A yelp of surprise was silenced immediately as the air took on a strange quality, the resistance just passing _through _him.

While every other student in the cafeteria ate with their friends and talked amongst themselves, the trio slid through the door.

* * *

"Okay." An exasperated Japanese woman sat in a chair in Spades kitchen, fingers at her temples. Holding back the migraine of the century, she squeezed her eyes shut and simply took a sip at the coffee the man had given her. Her accent was wavering heavily with her emotions. "You want me to do _what_ exactly?"

"Call up Doc Scratch and tell him the portal is finished. Bring some of the boys back together, you know?" Spades was almost as annoyed as she was, though for entirely different reasons. "Why the hell is everyone so surprised by this? I found the source of ectoplasm, I'm pretty sure the bastard would be excited!"

Hando Meido* Megido had only known this man for a few years now since marrying one of his friends and having her stepdaughter be friends with his kid. He was always good for a laugh considering the bullshit she'd seen him go through, especially if it started a few fires. She always figured that he was a decent, crazy man that was fun to watch when he did something painfully stupid. What could she say, she was a sadist by nature.

After seeing what he had in his basement, she may need to reevaluate some of her past opinions.

"Look, I would love to see you shit talk my boss- trust me, I would- but how the hell are you going to prove to him that what you have is real? For fucks sake, I believe it, but that doesn't mean he will." Mrs. Megido sat back in her chair, crossing her legs. She still shivered at the feeling of the portal, knowing it was down there. "Have you done anything to actually get inside it?"

"Not yet. The kid got his friend to move a drone in there and get some footage, though." Spades said proudly, ignoring the groan from Hando. "That should be enough."

"Yes, a video from three teenagers that grew up in the age of the internet. One of them with extensive knowledge in tech and special effects." The sarcasm was thick enough for Spades to catch, though she rarely cared. "Videos can be faked, Slick. Nobody trusts anything unless it's right in front of their eyes. Scratch is no exception. The kids are pretty honest, but he doesn't know that." Another sip of her coffee failed to soothe her nerves.

Spades, despite being thick in the head sometimes, grumbled in agreement. He'd have to find a safe way to get inside the Ghost Zone with some form of protection. Gravity (as far as he knew) didn't exactly apply there and even he couldn't bring an aircraft down into the lab without some serious help. Not to mention what the Zone would do to real world objects that stay in there.

"I'm planning on showing the portal off at my high school reunion in a month. I think I can come up with something before then to get at least one person inside." He clicked his tongue. "Got all the ectoplasm I want now, so shouldn't be too hard."

"Yeah." Hando blinked. "Try to not kill anybody with whatever you come up with. I've grown somewhat fond of Aradia by now."

Spades barked a laugh. "Hey, my inventions haven't killed anybody yet."

Before she could land a retort, a loud beep caused them to jump. Looking at the counter, the sound came from a small device on Spades kitchen counter. It beeped again after a three second beat, at the same irritating volume as before.

Spades got up quickly, grabbing the device. Fiddling with it, he looked over the screen in broad confusion. It was lighting up, the beep continuing.

Hando raised an eyebrow. "Slick? You're usually happy when one of your things work, what's happening? Is that going to explode on us?"

"No. It's working perfectly. Hell, I tuned the thing this morning." He fiddled with the nobs a little more, looking a little more frantic. "It shouldn't be doing anything right now. It's only supposed to detect high traces of ectoplasm, and I made sure the portal wouldn't even register."

"Then where the fuck it trying to lead you?" She stood up taking a look over his shoulder. He narrowed her eyes, looking over the map on the screen.

"It's," Spades looked closer, attempting to zoom in a little bit more. "It says there something going on at the high school."

* * *

Karkat would've had the presence of mind to feel guilty if it wasn't so funny to see his friends gasping on the floor, freaking out a little.

Aradia, shaking her head and standing up quickly, grabbed her undead friend and shook him at every syllable. "Warn. Us. Next. Time."

"Jesus, dude, is that how that feels? God that's weird." Sollux got up too, slower and shakier. "Kinda cool, but what AA said."

"Hey, we needed to get in here unnoticed, and that's what I did." The red-eyed teen shrugged and turned around. "Let's just find this 'Lisa,' and get the fuck out of here. I don't want any teachers finding us."

Aradia sighed, following closely behind. "True. We might as well find out if an ectopus followed us here or not."

"Maybe Doris had a mental breakdown or something." Sollux shrugged, frowning. "I mean, I hope not, but maybe she had to deal with Trizza too long and just couldn't take it anymore. Probably handing in her two weeks' notice by now."

Karkat shook his head. "She looked a little too pale. Almost like she saw something that she shouldn't have. Or wasn't expecting to." He frowned and forced himself to look ahead. "It looked too much like how you guys did after the whole thing with the portal."

The other two didn't say anything about it, wincing at the detail. Though, in a fucked-up way, they understood what he meant.

Doris looked a little tired, sure, but that was pretty normal. You work in a school of any kind, with students that have more energy and hormones than sense, you get tired real fast. She may have worked in the kitchen mostly, but teenagers could take a lot out of you, especially if you were another teenager.

But Doris didn't just look tired. She looked like she saw something that truly _horrified _her.

It took them under a minute to reach the kitchen. It took them less time to hear what sounded like a happy hum come from inside it.

In a way, the scene was entirely benign. They could see a stocky woman standing before them, her back to them as she prepared another meal for the masses outside. Whether her stockiness originated from fat or from muscle was hard to tell. Gray hair was tied up in a bun and stuck under a hairnet, not a single one out of place, kept tightly inside the netting. Her garb reflected what her profession was, with a plain, light pink dress and large apron that engulfed it.

It was a relatively normal scene.

If only her skin wasn't glowing a sickly green.

The three kids reflexively took a step back, anxiety rising within them. One of them hit a pan that was lying on the ground, probably left by Doris after she ran outside.

The woman (_the ghost_) stopped for a moment, looking behind her curiously. A kindly face smiled at them, her eyes looking mostly normal except they were lined with a lighter shade of green than her skin.

"Hello, dearies." She said nicely, turning to them while floating. "Feeling a bit peckish?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, just when things get better, the world decides to throw a curve ball. I am so cruel. But, now things are headed into "canon" territory, so that's nice.
> 
> Also;
> 
> *Solluxander was a name Andrew Hussie jokingly said was Sollux's true name once and I wanted to reference it because it was funny. Also, this makes our little techie Sollux the Second, which was too hard to pass up. Mrs. Megido, aka The Handmaid, had her name derived from the Japanese translation of "handmaid." It's not clever, but I think I got the spirit of it since I used Google Translate like Hussie.
> 
> (Also, Hando here is Aradia's stepmom. She's Japanese while Aradia has Mexican heritage, that kind of deal. Damara will appear at some point, for anyone that's a fan of hers.)
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy the references and I'll see you all next chapter!


	6. Gory Gourmet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter sent in, though I'm not entirely sure how well I did this one. There's plenty of action in it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the actions good. Either way, I hope it's good enough for everybody and that you all enjoy the chapter ahead.

The meat on the stove was beginning to burn, Karkat dully noted to himself. He wasn't sure why he was thinking about this now, but the ghost in front of him seemed to agree with him and immediately went to flip it over. He could see one side was slightly blackened from where he stood.

That solved one problem at least.

The other was the fact that _fucking ghost_ was standing right in front of him.

"Dearies?" The woman tilted her head to the side curiously, confused. "Is everything alright? If you're feeling lightheaded, you might want to have something sweet. Can't have your blood sugar getting low." She tutted as she moved toward the oven, taking a look inside. "The cookies aren't finished yet, so you might have to wait a few minutes."

"That's fine." Karkat said, voice higher than he'd like it to be. He sent a look behind himself to his friends, noting Aradia's rigid frame ready for a fight. Sollux was clicking furiously on his phone, repeatedly looking up to keep an eye on the ghost as well. "Doris was just acting a little weird and we wanted to see what was wrong."

"Aw, the poor thing. I think she's been working herself to death! I think I took too many sick days and it left her ragged." The dead lunch lady cooed, dicing up some vegetables. "Figured that she should take a sick day herself. She needs the rest."

"Right. Makes sense." That wasn't ominous in the _slightest._ A laugh riot, this one.

The red-eyed boy watched her carefully. He was starting to wish she was an ectopus rather than a person at this point, because he could explain away those things. They were some native animal of an alternate dimension or something, practically aliens in a way. Things that didn't have to be explained too in depth unless you want to.

This was a different though. This was a real ghost. An actual dead person that probably had family and friends that missed them, who knew them.

This was absolutely fucked.

"KK." Sollux whispered to him, pushing his phone into Karkat's hand. He pointed at the screen, never taking his eyes of the ghost. "I found her. I don't think she's bullshitting."

Karkat looked down at the phone screen, scanning the information below. He gulped as he read the headline.

_Casper High Lunch Lady Found Dead due to Work Related Stress_

_A Casper High cafeteria worker was discovered dead in the kitchen area Friday morning due to a heart attack._

_52-year-old Lisa Littlemeyer's body was found on the kitchen floor of Casper High by a fellow employee after they came into work that morning. It is believed that Littlemeyer was working late that night to receive overtime when the heart attack occurred. No one else was reported to be in the building at the time of her death._

_The employee that called it in was said to be a Doris Grail, who claimed that…_

…Karkat promised to send Doris some flowers or some comfort food to her later. It sounded like she was going to need it after the day she's had.

"Okay, Mrs. Littlemeyer?" He said experimentally, hoping that she at least knew her own name. At the nod from her, he felt a small amount of relief and continued. She's willing to talk, so maybe this'll be easier than dealing with the ectopi "Are you sure you should be here right now? You might still be sick."

"Yeah," Aradia moved beside him. "I'm not a doctor or anything, but you still look pretty green."

"You did not just say that." Sollux groaned, moving to stand beside his friend too, grabbing his phone. He seemed to relax a little since, for the time being, no one was trying to kill them just yet.

"Nonsense!" Littlemeyer kept moving about the kitchen, literally waving off their concerns. "I've had more than enough time to recover. It's a shame that I even had to take one day off. That'll never happen again." She moved some stuff around in the cupboards, muttering to herself. "Somebody messed with the inventory, I can't find _anything_ in here."

Karkat winced and looked at his friends faces to see if they were as uncomfortable as he was. He noticed their looks as well and surprisingly wasn't comforted by it at all.

She didn't know she was dead.

"They probably cleaned up the place. You know, so more people don't get sick." Sollux lied, attempting to keep a straight face. "Having students get sick would look pretty bad for the school."

"Definitely!" Aradia jumped on it and smiled as sweetly as she could. "My dad usually cleans the house after the flu season ends so we don't catch anything. He's a major hypochondriac."

It looked like Lisa believed them if the nod was any indicator, but she still looked miffed. "I would've liked it if someone told me about it before that." She closed the cabinets with a huff, a tiny web of cracks appearing on them when she did. The ghost didn't seem to notice, though the other occupants of the room did.

"Got any idea how to get her out of here?" Sollux waved his phone at his friends, looking at Karkat. "I could call your dad or something. He'll know what to do, right?"

"He's only seen a ghost once, dude." Karkat hissed. "I don't even know if he can get her out of here without causing a scene."

"There's an entire cafeteria full of people outside too." Aradia kept an eye on any exits around them. "If she gets violent, there's not telling what'll happen. Ectopi are one thing, but a ghost that can actually think is a lot more dangerous."

"No shit." The red-eyed teen kept his eye on the lunch lady as she moved kept opening up cupboards, her frustration becoming more apparent. He was hoping that she didn't have a temper. "Let's just try and talk to her. She's been pretty nice to us so far, so she isn't a bad person. We can probably talk her down."

Sollux frowned at that but let his arm fall. "I'm keeping your dad's contact open just in case." He said tensely, receiving only a nod in response.

Karkat, although hesitantly, moved forward and attempted to talk to the woman in front of him calmly. "Look, maybe having another day off would help. Dedication is nice and all, but maybe-"

"No." She said it simply and with authority, rubbing her forehead as she closed another cupboard. "I'll reorganize all of this later. I'll have to check in the freezer box to make sure they didn't mess that up." She was already floating away to the back before they could say anything more.

"Maybe we should just tell her." Aradia whispered, looking at the ghosts back with a worried expression. "As cliché as it sounds, ripping it off like a Band-Aid would probably be the best idea."

"Having seen that tactic in movies, that's probably not a good idea." Sollux shook his head and lifted up his phone again. "Like I said, it would take on phone call."

"I said no, dude." Karkat turned to him and gave him a glare. "He's got weapons that specialize in hurting ghosts. We just need to make sure she doesn't do anything rash and-"

"The _**hell!?"**_

The three jumped at the sound as the Mrs. Littlemeyer apparently found something she didn't like in the freezer. They were already moving towards the sound from the freezer, moving closer just to see what exactly was wrong and-

…Everything looked normal.

Well, normal enough when there's a dead lunch lady flying around. The freezer was predictably cold with boxes full of food stacked in several places. A disturbing amount of it consisted of meat, making up most of the boxes within the place.

Probably wasn't all that nutritious if you thought about it.

"This is all _**wrong**_!" The lunch lady kept warbling in her speech, switching between a Scary Voice of her own and her normal speech. "Why is the meat packaged like this?! The butcher delivers meat to us every week so its _**fresh**_!"

Disturbingly, the teens couldn't help but note that she looked a little less _human_ than before as she spoke. Her hair was rising slightly, eyes flashing toxic green every few moments. If they looked closely, they could see her skin getting a deeper shade of green, her teeth somehow sharper. She was floating higher at, jerking upwards every time.

It abruptly changed to her sweeter façade for a second after she turned to look at them. "Dearies," Her voice singsong and pleasant in a way that creeped them out. "Has there been a change since I was gone? Usually the butcher makes his delivery by now."

Karkat is pretty sure Amity Park hasn't had a butcher for five years ago, so he's terrified to answer the question.

"Probably sick." He said quickly. "Stuff's been going around lately and stalling a lot of things."

She let out a dissatisfied hum, looking at the prepackaged meat. "We'd at least have something on standby rather than resorting to…" Lisa grabbed a thin piece of meat that looks like it was never fresh. _**"…This**_trash. It's cheap! It may be a school cafeteria, but we have standards here."

"They could've done this to make things more affordable to students." Aradia started. She motioned madly to the others to continue it.

"Yeah!" Karkat attempted to smile unconvincingly. "Everyone needs to eat. It's not great, but we can't let people starve."

It had a much more calming effect than they thought as she floated a little closer to the floor. "Everyone deserves a chance to eat. Especially those poor children." Littlemeyer looked over the inventory, a confused expression on her face. "It's just a far cry to what it was a couple of days ago. I was only sick since Thursday."

Sollux frowned, looking up from his phone, the article still on his screen. "How sick were you exactly? Any weird symptoms?"

The ghost shrugged, putting a hand over where her heart would've been. "I was a feeling a bit weak. Heart was doing some jumping jacks and it became a little hard to work." She had a small smile for a brief second. "Momma always said that was a heart attack. Died from one of those. Though I ate a lot better and worked out a lot, so it couldn't have been that."

Captor's face moved from caution to pity. He looked at the other two and mouthed out two words.

_Genetic predisposition._

Well, this was becoming the saddest thing they've ever heard.

They had to get her out of here.

"Hey, maybe it isn't a good idea to stay here." Karkat moved closer to the woman, attempting to act as non-threatening as possible. "It's probably stress that's getting you down. The changes aren't helping, so going home and having some tea would do you some good."

"Hm." She nodded, staring off into space for a few moments. She suddenly moved towards the exit of the freezer. "I'll head to the break room and leave a note. They'll probably have a replacement for me sent up."

The group collectively sighed, making sure to follow close behind. At least they got her out of the kitchen. Getting her out of the school would be even more difficult.

"Alright," Karkat muttered to the others, slowing down to talk to them. "As long as we get her out the back door, we can get her far away from the school and see if we can get her to the Ghost Zone."

"What if she starts asking questions? I don't exactly want to break the news to her. She's been nice so far." Aradia kept her eyes on the woman's back. "It's dangerous to have her here, but I'd rather not have to fight her alone."

"We'll call my dad. At least if we get her far away enough, she won't hurt anybody." This seemed to assuage her for now, but Sollux looked unconvinced. "If anything, he'll at least know how to get her to back off. He even made a ghost capturing device, so he at least has that."

"Didn't you just say that he's only seen a ghost once?" Sollux shook his head. "He might be able to scare her off, but she could just come back, even if we shove her into the portal."

"We'll adapt with whatever the fuck happens, alright?" Karkat rubbed his hands down his face, exhausted with the conversation. "One step at a time, otherwise we're fucked. No pressure."

Hearing a loud thump from a room nearby and looked ahead of themselves to find the hallway empty, but a door opened wide enough for light to come out of it, flickering. They moved ahead suddenly, moving to the doorway.

It looked like a simple breakroom, really. Tables, chairs, coffee makers, and whatever bells and whistles any breakroom would have. The fact that there were barely any decorations in the room showed that it wasn't used often, if at all, but they could see a calendar with today's date in the back.

Which the Mrs. Littlemeyer was looking at. Directly.

"…_Shit._" Karkat tried to move forward to the woman with little hesitation. "Hey, we should probably head out soon. I'm glad that you let us hang out here for so long, which I can't thank you enough for, but I'm pretty sure the principal wouldn't like it if-"

"Excuse me."

The interruption stopped him. A thrum of power escaped her, causing him to take a step back. "Y-yeah?"

"Where exactly are we?" The ghost wasn't turning around to face him, though the tone in her voice suggested that she was calm. The only reason to believe otherwise the amount of _emotion_ that emanated from her.

"…Casper High." He said simply. He glanced back at his friends, motioning them to move away from her. Sollux was already dialing on the phone while Aradia began to lead him away. She sent a questioning look to him, only causing him to motion for her to move faster. There's a small thud on the wall to his left, causing anxiety within him.

"Good." The lunch lady says finally. Another, louder thump could be heard from the wall again, causing the calendar to shake at the force. She asks another question. "What year is it though?"

Karkat clenches his hands into fists, a part of him already accepting that this was probably going to get ugly. He could see his friends had already left. "2020."

There was a pause for a second, accompanied by louder, _wet_ thump coming from the wall. Cracks actually began to form from the impact.

"Ah." She said finally. It was almost a formality to make the sound itself.

Rings formed around Karkat and went around his body as the wall finally gave way with a wet crunch.

* * *

The old car wasn't exactly built to go over 40 miles per hour, so it was a little concerning to hear the whine of the engine as he went up to 60, but Spades didn't really care. The other occupants in his car begged to differ.

"I understand your concern and all, but could you slow down." Heido said in the back seat. She was relatively calm about the insane driving, but she figured one of them had to since Xander was gripping onto the cushions for dear life. "Even if there were ghosts at the school, as unlikely as it is, it's not like they're going to disappear if we're a few minutes late."

"The only ghosts will be us if he doesn't slow the fuck down." Xander hissed, eyes closed tightly. "Slick, maybe that scanner thing is busted. I could take a look at it if you could _stop_ the car."

"Can't do that." Slick swerved past a slower car, eyes flitting between the road and the scanner. "I've been upgrading this thing for years and it's never wrong. There's either a ghost at the school or a natural portal, and neither of those are good."

"Are you sure your son didn't take anything laced with the stuff to school today?" Heido took a drag from her cigarette. "It wouldn't be the first time that's happened."

"It only detects large amounts of ecto-radiation. If he brought some to school, then it wouldn't be enough to cause something like this." Spades gripped the steering wheel harder, thinking it over. "If anything, he would've called to complain about it already."

The rant would've gone on longer if a sudden ring from the cars Bluetooth didn't make everyone jump. Spades attempted to ignore the smug look from Megido in the back and answered. "Talk to me."

"Mr. Slick?" Sollux's voice came out nervously from the other side, causing everyone to feel anxious all of a sudden.

"Son?" Xander seemed to have all fear seep out of him after hearing his sons voice, leaning forward.

"Dad?" Sollux asked, before deciding to change subjects. "You know what, never mind. Slick, do you know how to get rid of a ghost?"

And didn't that send a chill down everyone's spine. "The hell are you talking about kid?" Spades definitely felt his heart begin to race at the kids' question, especially since it was from the one kid who didn't ask anything about ghosts.

"Look, we saw a lunch lady get out of the kitchen and she started acting weird. We went inside and, uh," He trailed off, as if attempting to find the right words. "There was someone glowing and she's not exactly doing all that hot right now. Mind helping us out here?"

"Is Aradia with you?" Heido asked, cigarette forgotten. She honestly did not like his tone right now, especially since he seemed way to nervous.

"Is everyone we know listening in to our call?" Sollux asked in annoyance. An audible sigh could be heard as he mumbled something to someone else. "Yes, so can you please just come here with something to get her before something-"

A loud crash could be heard in the background as two voice cursed. "Shit! Aradia, find Karkat, I think he too close to that! Just get over here!"

"What's happening over there?!" Spades questioned went unanswered as the call suddenly disconnected. This led to him cursing and hitting the steering wheel in a rage. He sped up the car even more, the engine be damned.

"Captor, grab the thermos from my bag! Megido, I left some ecto-guns in some of the seats! Get ready!" He pushed down the gas pedal even harder. "We're going ghost hunting."

* * *

Karkat was appreciating the dull feeling coming from his ghost form as he figured the wall collapsing on top of him would've been painful. He let the rubble phase through him, standing up on shaking legs as the ectoplasmic power hit him full force. Red eyes moved to around the room. Noticing the ceiling was broken open to show the clear skies, he jumped and flew out to see it.

He was greeted by the sight of two loops of red swirling around the form of a demonic looking lunch lady, who didn't seem to notice him as she stared off into the sky. In the middle of a field behind the school, she stood stock still as her eyes burned. Karkat determined that the swirls were made out of meat from the freezer, though surrounded by a green aura.

He growled as he attempted to float closer the mass, trying to think through his plan of attack. "Mrs. Littlemeyer?!" He shouted, attempting to get her attention. He felt a small amount of anger as the woman failed to respond to him.

"Hey," Karkat didn't exactly feel as calm as he sounded but attempted to be as comforting as possible about this. "I know it feels, okay? You don't want to accept this and all, but whatever happened back then happened. You can be angry about it, you can be sad about it, but you can't let it take over."

She still wasn't responding, but the loops of meat surrounding her only swirled faster. This caused him to tense up, but he still kept talking.

"I became like this only a few days ago, so I get it! But I'm at least trying to find the bright side to this." He said, floating closer to the woman. The energy surrounding her was still rising, something he sensed in his current form. "It'll be hard right now, but if you give yourself time, you'll get past it. You just have to accept it."

The meat loops stopped suddenly, stopping him saying more. The ghost of Lisa Littlemeyer didn't turn to look at him, but he could hear her speak only a few words.

"_**I don't have to accept anything."**_

Before he could think to move, a stream of meat him, knocking him out of the sky. The force of it threw him across the field with a thump, the ground under him scraping against his back. When he eventually slid to a stop, he pushed off the foul-smelling meat, gagging as he could feel some of it within his mouth.

Getting up and feeling the ache in his back and the scrapes on his back, he looked up at the lunch lady with one final pitying look before floating upwards.

"Fine." Karkat muttered, putting up his fists. His face twisted into one of determination. "I'm sorry."

He charged.

Karkat flew forward, fists in front of him as he stared down the ghost. Locking eyes, the lunch lady sent several streams of meat at him, two coming at him from the sides, one from above. He moved to the left to avoid the one coming overhead, the one at his left grazing him as he moved under the one on the right.

Cursing, he attempted to stay low to the ground to avoid the onslaught. A few more meat stalks flew downwards, piercing the ground every time he moved from one side to the other. A growl of frustration could be heard from the lunch lady, her hands outstretching to throw out another attack.

Shooting out faster than bullets, bones from the meat began to shoot out towards the ground, causing Karkat to yelp. Before he could fly to the left, he could feel a few slices through his suit and leave cuts in his skin. Redoubling his efforts, he flew faster, reaching his top speed as he neared her.

Taking a sudden turn upward, he threw a fist up to her jaw, feeling it connect. Disorienting her, he flew downwards, kicking in a downward arc. She plummeted to the ground, hitting the ground back first as the meat fell down with her.

Karkat flew down to the ground in front of her, looking at her with narrowed eyes. "Last chance, Mrs. Littlemeyer. I don't want to hurt you more than I have already."

"_**You'll have to try harder than that to hurt me!"**_She flew up above the ground, clapping her hands together with a feral snarl. The meat surrounding them started to form up into five anthropomorphic globs, with teeth and claws made of bones and eyes glowing red with malice.

Karkat mentally groaned at this, already beginning to feel the amount of pain coming towards him. "I didn't want you to hurt me even more either."

The glob behind him attempted to jump on his back, grabbing onto is shoulders with a tight grip. Before the nails could get a good grip in, Karkat grabbed it and threw it off at the other approaching meat imp, causing both to lose their form instantly.

A third imp at his right slashed at him, causing him to float backwards. The one at his left grabbed at his arm, but was punched in the face for his trouble, the bones in its face cracking under the pressure.

He was tackled in the front by the last one, swiftly biting into his shoulder. Its teeth sunk into the suit and partly into the flesh. Screaming out, Karkat kicked the thing off before throwing into the other remaining imp, causing them to both explode.

Karkat flew up to give himself time to breath, looking over the field. It looked like the meat imps were already reforming, with the ones he defeated earlier already halfway back to reaching their forms.

"Well, this is fucking useless." He said under his breath before looking at the ghost. He was going to have to focus on her if he wanted to get out of this even half alive. Even if she wasn't herself right now.

Karkat flew straight at her, a feral yell following him as he slammed into her. Grunting in surprise, she threw a fist at him clumsily, missing him by a country mile. He flew out of her grasp, turning quickly to kick her in the head. It connected, sending her body careening forward.

Surrounding her arm with meat, the lunch lady her fist outwards, but it was swiftly dodged by the ghost boy. Moving downwards, he moved up to give her another uppercut, sending her backward.

Stopping in the air, she let out a growl. _**"Boy, you better stop now, before I really get angry!"**_

Karkat rolled his eyes. "Lady, I get that you're upset over your death, but acting like this doesn't solve shit." He relaxed his body, putting his hand out to her. "Just come with me and I can take you somewhere where you won't hurt anybody."

"_**I'm. Not. Dead." **_The meat began to swirl back into a mass around her once again, her features not even human anymore. _**"And I'm not going anywhere with you!"**_

Before Karkat could react, he was swatted away by a hand formed by the mass, his body careening over the school.

* * *

"Goddamit, just let me through!" Spades yelled at the school security guard, waving the thermos in his hands. He could see the group of students filing outside the building and couldn't find the kids among them. Karkat sour mug would've been obvious to him, especially flanked by his friends. "My fucking kid's in there and I really need to make sure he's alright."

The man, to his credit, was doing a great job in keeping him back, though he looked nervously at the raving man. "Sir, we're keeping track of any students within the school and we're still looking within the classrooms. Most likely your son is in them. We can't let you inside until a clean sweep is made and there's no ongoing threat."

Spades would've loved to fight with the man further, but he felt a hand pull him backward before he could argue. He was turned to meet the cold look from Heido and the worried look from Xander, causing him to quiet down.

"Slick." Heido said calmly, with flicker of fury slipping into her expression. "I get that your angry right now- I certainly am- but you're going to disturb the students and the teachers will assume that you did something."

"I'd really hate to end another day with a trip to the police station." Xander contributed. He was doing a headcount of the students too and noted his son hadn't made an appearance just yet. "Besides, maybe we shouldn't mention the phone call too. The kids maybe a little rowdy at times, but they never did something at this type of scale before."

"And yelling about finding them might make them targets of investigation." Heido finished. She was, to her shame, on her third cigarette in a row and was beginning to lament on the fact she hadn't quit yet. "If they hear they were there, they won't think a 'ghost' did it."

"But you heard them!" Spades gripped the metal of the thermos tightly. "You're kids _never_ willingly talk about ghosts, and Karkat wouldn't let them call me unless he actually thought there was one. They might've actually saw something in there."

"And we'll talk to them when they get out here. They're chaotic, not dumb." Xander sighed deeply. "Look, maybe we should drop the ghost thing for now. It's not like you can actually prove it right now and it'll just get the kids in trouble."

Spades sputtered, looking between the two with exasperation. "But I have the portal! It's in my fucking basement, I showed you that _today._ Don't you believe me?"

The two adults refused to look at him in the eyes, with even Heido averting her gaze when he looked at her. Xander, to his credit, did his best to remain stern but wasn't exactly looking at him face to face either.

Spades felt himself die a little inside at their lack of faith, arms going limp at his sides. He felt his mouth open and close before finally saying something.

"You don't. Great." He didn't _sound_ upset, but his body language did that for him as he took off his hat and ruffled his thinning hair. "I actually open the portal to the Ghost Zone and nobody bothers to take me seriously. Even after their own kids report seeing a ghost in their school, they don't believe me."

The two still didn't look at him but slouched under the pressure of the breakdown that seemed ready to commence. They didn't want this to happen here, but at least he wouldn't be harassing anyone.

"I just," Spades shook his head, roughly putting his hat back on with a huff. "I just wanted one person to finally say that I'm right, to even thank me for my work. I finally get it right and _still_ nobody is getting it? That I was right all along? Typical."

He laughed sharply, hauling the thermos up into his hand. "Who knows? Maybe people will still keep calling this thing a soup can."

Spades sighed deeply, but as he did, the weight of the thermos seemed to disappear. Startled, he looked at his hand to find it missing, hands holding empty air. Looking at the stunned looks of the other adults, he found that they saw it go missing too and that he hadn't simply dropped it.

Before he could think further on the matter, he could've sworn that an echoey voice from above them had shouted something.

"Thanks!"

* * *

Karkat was flying through the air, but it wasn't under his volition. The wind was whipping around him as his body refused to move, the shock of the hit still going through him. The cuts on his body weren't deep, but they were being aggravated by this, pain still reaching him despite the dulled nerves.

_I have to move_, he thought to himself. He wasn't winning the fight, even if he figured he got a few good hits in. He had to find a way to stop her before she decided to move on to the whole school.

Another part of him was already planning to give up the situation, to just move on with his life and hope he doesn't die from the fall. Of course, Karkat attempted to silence it, but he could already feel his muscles giving up. He couldn't fight her into the Ghost Zone, even if he could knock her out. If ghosts could be knocked out.

He blinked, his mind in a haze, noticing he'd cleared the school. He was flying above the entrance of the school. Looks like people were being brought outside. They probably heard the crash in the kitchen and assumed something exploded.

Doris. She was going to be blamed for this somehow. He couldn't help but feel sad about that. He failed her.

He failed Lisa too.

Karkat felt his arc had reached its peak, making him suddenly dive downward into the front of the school. Looks like this was how he would die. Again. For the second time. At least people would notice it. He'd probably get an entire page in the yearbook for it.

His dad was down there too, waving the thermos.

…_The thermos!_

A surge of adrenaline moved through Karkat's veins, an idea forming in his head at breakneck speed. Twisting his body, he moved himself so he would 'land' behind his father, hand outstretched to meet the thermos. In a what felt like minutes, but were actually seconds, he felt the touch of the metal thermos in his hands as his invisibility and intangibility caused him to sink into the ground unnoticed.

The cold of the metal felt good on his aching palms, he figured.

He launched himself out of the ground with a smile on his face. He laughed noiselessly to himself, but before he started to fly back towards the back of the school, he turned his head.

"Thanks!"

Karkat knew he would hear about it when he got home (among other things), but he had other shit to worry about. He had to make it back to the lunch lady before she exposed them both.

Flying back in about under a minute, he noted the amount of destruction Littlemeyer was causing, her giant form encasing her ghost form entirely. The being thrashed about, destroying some gym equipment nearby with surprising force, smashing anything that got in its way. He vaguely thought that she was starting to head back to the school.

"I'm fucking done this shit." Karkat scanned the monster over, frowning at seeing nothing he could actually hit. "Fuck it," He said, flying directly for its head. Don't fix what isn't broken, as his dad always said. "Punch it until it does something new."

Flying at top speed, he turned his body around so that it became a flying kick and hit the meat monster in the back of the head. It caused it to lean forward suddenly but failed to topple over. He flew back as the creature turned unnaturally to him, its glowing red glare on him now.

It swiped at him with its left claw, growling in a low rumble as he dodged it. Sending out another claw to him, Karkat swerved to the side before swerving to hit the right side of its face. He avoided its snapping jaws, taking a look inside.

Karkat felt a twinge where his heart was as he saw the lunch lady was inside the mouth, moving the creature with her entire body. Maybe if he knocked her out of there…

He moved to the side as a fist attempted to squash him, causing the ground below them to crack under the pressure. The meat monster repeated the action, causing him to move again, with Karkat correcting himself as he flew above and sent both of his fists down upon it.

He started to slow down, the plan formulating and already being enacted in his mind. He backed up slowly, staying at arm's reach, attempting to fly around it like a buzzing fly. He even made a quick dive downward, grabbing a stray soccer ball, and threw it into the monsters' eyes, causing it to wince in pain.

It gave him the opening he was looking for when it opened its arms and attempted to squash him flat between them, the monster roaring. Karkat narrowly avoided the hands and flew right into the mouth, tackling Mrs. Littlemeyer.

The two flew out of the back of the monster's throat, its structural integrity already beginning to fall as they passed through. He stopped flying suddenly, her momentum failing to stop as she slammed into the ground.

He pulled out the thermos, untwisting the cap as the power came on within it. Karkat pointed the open end towards Lisa, hands trembling as he pressed the button his dad showed him earlier.

The ghost's face turning from angry to fearful as she was sucked inside was something he'd dream about tonight.

The ghost boy floated slowly to the floor, hands shaking as he screwed the cap to the thermos on tight. He could feel the wounds on his body burn and ache, exhaustion as adrenaline left him to fall to his knees.

"Jesus fucking Christ." He said, feeling winded. "That was worse than fucking dying."

He let out a sharp laugh as he suddenly collapsed to the floor, rolling over onto his back. He could feel ectoplasm on his skin, but the cuts weren't bleeding anymore. Probably a healing factor, which was just another weird thing to think about.

On top of the dead woman he just fought.

The _ghost _he just fought.

The fight he just fucking _won._

Giggles traveled through his body again, making him curl up on the floor with heaving breaths.

What the fuck was he going to do _now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, a lot of action, but I don't have a lot of experience dealing with it. Or I don't have experience with it in superhero fight perspective. However, I did send this out, even it is kind of on a cliff hanger. I felt like it would difficult to go back to normal conversation organically and figured saving it for the next chapter would be a better idea for now.
> 
> Either way, I hope to see you next chapter and that you have a nice day!


	7. Plans for the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the story keeps moving ahead! Hope you enjoy this next chapter, though it isn't as action packed as the rest. Some decisions will be made, some that'll set things into motion for the story proper.
> 
> Also, if anyone reading this happens to make or wants to make fanart or fanfiction of this, feel free to while properly crediting me! It sounds egotistical when I put it that way, but I figure I should put the offer out there.
> 
> Either way, enjoy reading!

Everything ached, but that was the only pain he felt right now

It wasn't much of a good thing, but Karkat was taking any positive thing he could get out of this if he could. After the breakdown, he checked himself over thoroughly to make sure no more ectoplasm and blood leaked out of him. He was right in the fact he wasn't bleeding anymore, probably due to a freakish healing factor that was going to stay with him for the rest of his life.

He made a note to send some flowers or some candy Doris's way after this. He had a feeling ghosts wouldn't be the first thing on people's minds when it came to this, so she'd mostly likely get fired for this.

That reminded him that he had to change back to human.

He heard some shouting and footsteps behind him as pure white rings enveloped him, his heart beating again in his chest. The aches intensified, making him stumble forward as the exhaustion hit him all at once. Karkat probably would've landed face first on the ground if he didn't feel two pairs of hands grab him and hold him upright. He registered the fact that someone was talking to him, but it took him a few seconds to actually hear the words.

It was Sollux's voice that broke through. "KK, get up." He pulled his friend up desperately, looking around them like he was expecting something to pop up and attack them. "I don't know if anyone's coming around, but I sure as fuck don't want to explain this shit to police."

"Sollux, he's injured! You saw the fight, he's probably not even remotely fine." Aradia put one of Karkat's arms over his shoulder, trying to hold him up carefully. "We don't even know where the ghost is anymore."

"In the thermos." Karkat mumbled, feeling a little out of it. He fingered the device and dangled it in front of them, the metal shining in his hand. "Dad's out front. Took it from him."

"Seriously?" The incredulous tone from Captor was expected, but he really didn't want to hear it. "You know what, I'm not going to question it. Let's get you out of here, man. We didn't exactly do shit during the fight."

"Sorry about that." Aradia, along with Sollux, sounded guilty. They couldn't exactly _do_ anything for obvious reasons, but that didn't exactly assuage them.

"S'fine." Karkat was trying his best to be supportive, giving a gentle pap to one of their faces- he was too tired to know who- but he knew it wasn't doing much. "Head out front. Hand the thermos to dad and tell him everything."

The two looked at each other briefly with pensive gazes, but they nodded along. Maybe it would be a better if they just got this over with.

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be able to do this all over again. Maybe we can even get some weapons off him if it does." Sollux said it conversationally, but he was actually starting to wonder. Aradia seemed to agree with him as she nodded discreetly, moving Karkat up higher.

"That'd be nice." Karkat just wanted to go home if he was honest with himself.

And god, he really hoped there wouldn't be a second time.

* * *

"You can't prove that had anything to do with ghosts."

"You fucking heard it! Don't even _try _to lie to me, for fucks- Heido, knock some sense into this man, please?!"

"I think we're focusing on the wrong thing here."

The three adults, if you could call them that, were still standing on the front lawn of the school. Arguing, if one couldn't tell. Xander was simply slowly rocking back and forth on the ground while Spades was trying to talk some sense into him. Heido simply wanted a goddam drink.

"I'm just saying," Xander said, still refusing to look anywhere but the ground. "We've all been very stressed today and I don't think we can attribute anything without having a proper source."

"You know ghosts exist because of the shit I have in my basement!" Spades was actively trying to check his violent impulse to kick Xander in the head, but his attempts were failing rapidly. "I don't get how someone with your brains can be this stupid."

" 性交のために*, you're both being stupid." She growled out, catching their attention. She pointed to her friend currently on the ground. "Xander, you've seen proof that Slick's research has gone from science fiction to science fact. Grow up and save the existential crisis for later." She turned to face the other man in the group. "Spades, we all know that your research is right. However, that shouldn't distract you over the fact that something is happening at your son's school right now. Grow up, both of you."

The two men shuddered at the icy glare she gave them from years of experience, shooting to their feet. "Yes ma'am!" They saluted oddly before shaking hands with large, fake smiles to placate her.

Heido didn't look impressed, but figured it was the best she could hope for. She was drinking whatever was in the fridge later with gusto no matter how things ended, but she might have to tear them a new one later if this starts up again.

Luckily for the two men, she would be distracted from them in the next few moments after Xander asked Spades something he probably shouldn't have.

"If it is a ghost or something, what are you going to do with it?"

* * *

They were almost to the entrance of the school and Karkat had regained enough sense to remember how to walk on his own two feet. Or his healing factor was helping battle the aches inside his body, but he wasn't necessarily going to question that anymore.

"This is the second worst day of my life." Karkat muttered, holding the thermos close to his chest. The cold metal seemed to bite him through his shirt and he involuntarily shivered, pulling it away to hold it at his side.

"I have a feeling we already know which ones the first one." Aradia said sarcastically. She had remained supportive as long as she could, but the day had been a rollercoaster of emotion so far. As far as anyone was concerned, she was emotionally dead to the world.

Pun completely intended, of course. Or not, since she wasn't really dead. You get the idea.

"So," Sollux started, drawing it out. "You think the school's gonna' force us to talk to the police about this? Hopefully our parents haven't said anything to them."

"My dad doesn't trust the cops after they confiscated his ecto-bazooka." Karkat paused before correcting himself. "Actually, he's never trusted cops at all. You guys think your parents will talk?"

"Nah, Heido's just as paranoid when the police come around." Aradia shuffled and leaned against a locker tiredly. They were near the entrance, keeping an eye out for anyone else.

She was joined by Sollux shortly. "Dad probably won't say anything if he thinks it'll get me in jail." He frowned for a second before looking at his friends with a wistful expression. "Nice to know where we learned it from, huh?"

"Yeah, real functional people raised us, didn't they?" Karkat rolled his eyes, feeling comfortable in the banter. If it wasn't for the feeling of the thermos in his hands, he would've assumed that none of the day's events happened.

However, he was done being in denial about it.

"Alright," The red eyed boy snapped up the thermos and held it in front of him. "Can't believe I'm saying this but looks like we're handing my dad a fucking captured ghost. Anyone want to do the honors and give it to him?"

"You caught her; you get the glory." Aradia laughed, rubbing at her eyes. "You want to tell him about the rest of what happened too?"

Karkat's frowned but nodded in affirmation. "I think we put it off long enough. The ectopus was one thing, but Mrs. Littlemeyer was something different. Maybe we can get him to shut down that portal too."

"That'll kill him, though." The two looked to Sollux in surprise, causing him to raise his hands in front of himself. "I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but I'm pretty sure knowing his portal caused everything _might_ be a little devastating."

"My dad might be pissed for a while, but he's not that much of an idiot. Once we give him the ghost and explain shit, he'll turn it off before something else comes through." Karkat was hoping that would be the case, though he was willing to work around it by just having it closed as often as possible. He didn't want to kill his dad's dreams, but by god it would make things worse if it was open.

"That sucks." Aradia seemed to mourn the loss of the portal already, though her face was set into grim determination. "But that's probably the best idea so far. We have no idea where Mrs. Littlemeyer came from, so it can't be a coincidence that she appeared _after_ the portal was opened."

Sollux nodded, his frown growing. "Which means closing that thing might be the best idea we have so far. We should probably do it before he presents it to the world or something. Got any ideas when he'll do that, KK?"

"I heard him talking about showing it off at his high school reunion. But if we do it now, we won't have to worry about it." Karkat was already thinking of how the conversation could go wrong, but he was uncharacteristically positive about it. "I just hope he doesn't hold it against the lunch lady for the shit she put us through today."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Aradia heard footsteps and voices in the distance, forcing herself to move away from the lockers. She manually adjusted her backpack, glad that they had remembered to grab them. "Let's get out of here. Our parents are probably outside."

"Good. Maybe we won't have school for a few days." He was looking forward to just sleeping out the rest of the week. "Mr. Lancer might try to cram the missing days into the next few lessons, but it'd be worth it."

"Hm." Sollux was at the back of the pack, making sure nobody was close to them. Deciding that it was safe, he whispered to Karkat. "Has your dad ever talked about what he'd actually _do_ if he caught a ghost?"

Karkat shrugged at his friends' question, though a small part of him twisted at the thought of that. His dad never really mentioned ghosts in a positive sense, but he was a scientist, the validity of his credentials aside. Maybe he'd be okay with this and try to ask the lunch lady ghost questions in a civilized manner.

When he opened the door, that was dashed as his father was fucking _ranting_ on the school's lawn.

"I swear, I'll catch that ghost and tear it apart molecule by molecule!" Spades was already on a tirade with a perturbed Mr. Captor and exasperated Mrs. Heido in front of him. Nobody else seemed to pay attention to him due to having gotten used to his rants long ago, though Karkat and his friends every word.

"Seriously, what kind of cowardly ghost just goes and attacks a _high school?_ A cowardly one, that's what!" Spades was practically frothing at the mouth, hands raised into the air and moving wildly. "Might just put under the scalpel, that way it's useful for something."

"Why not just try to talk to it first? Maybe it's just confused or something." They could all hear Mr. Captors voice from where they were standing, as shaky as it was.

"They still attacked a school!" Slick pointed out, pointing a finger right in the man's face. "Besides, you should always question the word of a dead person. Trust me, I learned that fact a long time ago."

Distantly, Karkat knew that his dad was still ranting, but he was blanking it out already. He faintly realized his grip on the thermos was tight, denting the metal in several places. He looked down at it with a fearful gaze, remembering the contents of it.

Scared, confused, dead Mrs. Littlemeyer was inside this thermos. She hadn't done anything wrong. Not on purpose. She just had a bad shock and her emotions went a little wild. He understood that, his friends understood that. Wouldn't his dad?

She didn't deserve to be torn apart for this, even if he got hurt trying to stop her.

The plan was already going to shit and Karkat hadn't even started it yet. He was internally debating the thought when he noticed Heido's gaze move over to them, stopping as soon as she did.

As soon as she looked away, Karkat felt his hand go intangible and go through Sollux's backpack. He saw his friends turn to him, but he ignored it as he moved forward suddenly to the adults in front of them.

"Dad, stop screaming for fuck's sake!" He could feel himself speak it already before he could stop himself. "You're going to get arrested or some shit. Jesus Christ…"

Spades turned around rapidly, seeing his son and his friends were fine. "Kid!" He moved himself to grab his son into a tough hug. "Jesus, what the fuck happened in there? Everything just went dark all of a sudden."

"We're fine, keep your pants on." Karkat patted his back awkwardly, looking around them. Nobody was looking at them, especially the cops directing the students to the parents that had already arrived. "Can we just get out of here? It looks like the schools letting us out early."

"Uh, but didn't you say you saw something in the-" Xander had already started before Heido lightly punched him the shoulder. She was looking at the cops as well, shifting from one foot to another.

"He's right, better get out of here." She said choppily, gesturing Aradia to come to her. She sent quick look to Spades. "We'll meet at your house. It'll be safer there."

Slick could tell it was a command than a question, gulping and nodding softly. He sent a quick look to his kid's eyes. Karkat attempted to hide any emotion other than irritation, which worked when he nodded again. "Let's get home, kid. You can explain everything there."

The red eyed teen felt himself relax at that and walked away from the school with his dad. Taking a look behind himself, he saw the rest of the students standing outside, parents filtering in while cops attempted to take control of the situation.

A small part of him felt guilty since he couldn't stop her, but a deeper part of him felt satisfied that they were safe.

* * *

The next few hours weren't stated to be an interrogation, but it felt like one. While none of the kids were in trouble, they were grilled about why they were in the school's kitchen and just what they were doing in there.

It was easy to edit their stories down to only what was necessary. They stated they saw lunch lady Doris step out of the cafeteria looking sick, questioned her, and said that checked inside to make sure it wasn't anything dangerous. They found a ghost inside messing around with the food and moving things about.

Karkat made sure the rest was edited heavily by saying that they saw her manipulate some stuff and left. No talks, no fights, or anything else that happened the next few minutes.

He judiciously decided not to mention the portal accident either. Neither did his friends.

When it was all said and done, the adults had pretty much believed them. Heido and Xander left Sollux and Aradia at his house since they wanted to hang out with him some more. Spades was staying in the house and watching the news, though it was probably to make sure that someone was around to keep an eye on them in case they weren't okay. He already talked to them about what he heard at the scene and how he'd volunteer to help clean the scene later to get some "samples."

They figured they might as well hang out in the lab until they decided to head home. Unfortunately, hanging out was consisting of looking at the thermos sitting on the table between all of them.

"I don't get it," Sollux was pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers, glasses propped up above his eyes. "He was right there. We had the thermos with the ghost in it. They asked us plenty of questions about what the hell we saw, and you still didn't give it to them?"

"It's complicated." Karkat knew that he kind of fucked up, but he felt he was right. "I made the decision and that's final."

"As much as I want to agree with you Karkat," Aradia started diplomatically, making sure this didn't escalate into another fight. "We just want to understand why. It seemed like you were ready to tell him everything before we got out there."

"Then you wussed out." Sollux scoffed, ignoring the glare he got from Megido. "I don't get what your problem is, but I thought we were going to stick to the plan."

"You heard what he was saying about what he'd do if he found her, right?" Karkat stood up from the table suddenly, hands on it and pushing his chair back with a sudden bang. "He gets his hands on her, we probably won't see her again. She doesn't deserve to be taken apart molecule by fucking molecule."

"I thought was all talk about this stuff." Aradia piped up, still trying to diffuse the situation. "I mean, he's probably ready to throw down with anyone that looks at him wrong, but it isn't like he'd actually hurt an innocent ghost."

"You don't know that." The ghostly teen plopped back down in his chair with a huff. "You haven't had to go through years of 'ghost drills' and extensive training with ecto-guns. Plus, he's always talked about how he that scar on his eye from a ghost before. And," He gestured at the thermos sarcastically. "We know that isn't bullshit anymore."

The two did get quiet at that, looking at the thermos on the table. Sollux didn't look happy still while Aradia was just conflicted, though neither of them argued with him. If Spades was the slightest bit serious about his threats…

Karkat felt his own thoughts grow darker. "He's been looking for ghosts all of his life. He isn't a psychopath or anything, but god knows what kind of trauma he's gone through thanks to ghosts. Would he even care if he knew I was still half human if I told him about…?"

He trailed off, noticing the worried they were sending his way. He swallowed down the rest of it, straightening up. "Look, let's just put her back into the Ghost Zone. She won't be able to hurt anyone in there."

"You think she'll be okay in there? We kind of fucked her up." Sollux had lost the fight in him and figured it was best to go along.

"She'll be fine. If she kicks as much ass out here, she'll kick just as much in ghost one." Aradia slapped her friends back, shrugging.

Karkat took that as a yes and grabbed the thermos, making his way to the portal. He put it in a slot in the wall specifically prepared for by his father, remembering the process of pushing buttons and opening up the portal to allow full transfer.

As the portal emptied its contents, he made sure not to look at the confused and sorrowful figure of Mrs. Lisa Littlemeyer and closed the portal.

He didn't hear any comments from his friends as he glumly moved back to the table with the empty thermos.

"Look," Sollux started out of the blue, he looked like he was carefully considering his words. "I get it, alright? But none of this changes the fact that not only the portal open, but it's also pretty dangerous to anyone that opens it up. Your dad's going to keep running tests with it, meaning more ghosts might slip though."

"Which means they might cause damage on their own." Aradia agreed with him, jumping onto his train of thought. "The lunch lady was simply scared and out of her mind. Imagine if something _actually_ malevolent pops out? No one's prepared for an actual poltergeist."

Karkat first thought was sabotage, but he quashed it immediately. They had some knowledge on ghost hunting tech, but it wasn't enough to actually do something in that capacity. They'd blow themselves up if they tried to do too much damage or would cause very little in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention how much trouble they'd be in if they got caught.

But they couldn't just do nothing about it. They couldn't warn anyone because either his dad would possibly try to dissect a ghost if he caught one or the people outside of this'll assume they're insane. He could let his dad show the world and maybe see if people would get prepared for, but that wasn't taking into the fact the government or god knows who else would try to get in on it.

Karkat solemnly realized there was a third option to this.

"I could keep them in line." He slipped it out fast before they could think too much on it. When he saw their faces start change, he quickly started adding to it. "It won't be forever. I'm just saying, until we can convince my dad to eventually turn the portal off, it'd be best to keep it to ourselves. I have ghost powers, so why not use them?"

"Because we're seventeen?!" Sollux stood up from the table, looking at his friend like he claimed he went insane in five seconds. "Are you- of course you're serious about this. Think that since you got some new ghost powers or something that you're able to take on everything or something."

"Hey, hey," Aradia's voice was firm, though she looked unsure. "It's not like it's a bad idea- I mean, it kinda' is- but he's got a point. We can't really do anything about turning the portal off ourselves."

"See, Aradia's got it!" Karkat could feel his blood boil, but he kept it under control. He needed to get them all on board for this to work. "We fuck around with that thing and we'll _all_ be dead. And I highly doubt we'll all come back either if we do."

"Yeah, maybe not _you!"_ Sollux didn't like this in the slightest, looking between the two of them. "You really think we can take anything on beyond Mrs. Littlemeyer?! What the hell do you plan on doing if something _worse_ comes out of that thing?"

"We'll figure that out." The red eyed teen felt it was weird that he was being the voice of reason here, but he knew this was the right course of action. "Maybe there's a reason I got these powers. I can't say that being a superhero was on the top my list of things to do, but if that's what it takes."

It was a desperate gamble and Karkat knew it was a bad idea on principle, but it was the best one they had right now. It was either let his dad experiment on a possibly innocent ghost, have a ghost cause casualties during an attack, or cause an even bigger disaster. At the very least, this one was the most active.

Sollux was working through this thought himself, gaping like a fish as he processed all of this. He eventually let out a groan and plopped back into his chair with a dramatic flourish. "Fine. Let's do this shit. I'm not being held responsible for property damage, though."

"Nobody's asking you to." Aradia chuckled, though her foot was still tapping anxiously. She took a look towards Karkat with a critical eye. "Hey, you wouldn't mind turning into your other form for a minute, right?"

Karkat raised an eyebrow but got up. "Okay? Sollux, can you turn off the ecto-detector for a second?" After his friend switched the damn thing off, he concentrated and let the rings of light go over his entire body. His body felt cold again, but he was getting disturbingly used to that.

"Okay, we need to find a way to dull those down." Megido rubbed at her eyes and shook her head. Giving him a good once over, she frowned. "I think all the glowing and ghost stuff is a good start, but you're face will still catch attention."

"You sure?" The echo in his voice didn't cause anyone in the room to flinch, which Vantas considered to be a win. "I mean, we aren't exactly aiming to be public about this, so shouldn't it be fine."

"People are going to know about ghosts eventually, KK, especially when your dad shows off the portal. They might not assume you're the one keeping them in line at first, but it's better we cover our tracks." Sollux raised a good point, though Karkat was still reluctant. Captor looked over at Aradia with a questioning look. "Got any ideas, AA?"

Karkat frowned but pulled up the hood to the hazmat suit, thinking he should have some control over his new look. It was similar to his real one in that it was loose due to how much he pulled on it over the years. It covered up the top of his head and the sides of it, but his face was still in full view. "This a good start?"

"Yeah!" Aradia was actually getting into the idea now. "Though we should still do something about your face." She hummed, walking around him for a few seconds before snapping her fingers. "Your dad has those gas masks in here, right?"

"Several. Never had to use them, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't know they're here anymore." He gestured to their location, which Sollux jumped on and filtered through a box. After the heterochromatic teen found a black one, he tossed it over to Karkat and urged him to put it on.

Floating to a mirror, he started to adjust the mask over his face, thanking the fact that Sollux picked one that only covered the lower half of his face. It fit perfectly, most likely because his dad found one in his size. Making some tiny adjustments and heading to the mirror, he looked at himself with hesitant eyes.

While most of it hadn't changed, Karkat couldn't hep but agree that covering his face was the right way to go. The hood made sure to shadow the top half of his face to give his pure red eyes an extra glow. The gas mask fit him perfectly, covering his mouth and chin. The combination of his naturally ghostly appearance and the added decoration made him unrecognizable. Maybe he could add some more color to the suit later, but honestly, it looked pretty good.

"I like it." Karkat's voice was slightly muffled by the mask, making it harder to compare to his original one. "I look like from a horror movie, but not even dad would recognize me if he bothered to look too much into it."

They two nodded along, moving to check him out a little bit more. "Maybe we can make some more adjustments in the future, but I think we can make this work." Sollux was still hesitant to go in on this plan, but he figured that this would be a good start. "We could take some weapons or other stuff from your dads weapon stash too, but we'll figure that out later."

"Oh, we should come up with a name for you!" Aradia's excitement was through the roof. Here she was, in the middle of a superhero origin story! "Maybe something ghostly, like specter or something."

Karkat shrank away from that, deciding to shift into his human form again. "I'll come up with something later." He said quickly, shaking his head. He started to head towards the stairs leading to the living room. "Let's have some fun or something. It's been a hard day and I'd rather not spend the rest of it in the lab."

"Good thinking." Aradia grabbed her bag and followed him up, Sollux close behind. "I've been waiting to beat your asses on Doomed all day."

"We'll see about that, Megido." Sollux challenged, laughing along with the other two as they moved upstairs.

They didn't look back at the portal this time.

* * *

It was late into the night when Karkat went to bed. He and his friends spent hours playing Doomed and did their best to forget the stressful day before they all went their separate ways, hoping that things would be better in the long run.

He was shifting into his sheets, thinking things over. He didn't exactly know if what they did was the best idea, but it'd work out eventually. Maybe they'll come up with something better, but superhero shit was the best thing he could come up with.

Though Aradia was right, he should come up with a name. Might as well keep the two sides separate as much as possible. If he was seen fighting ghosts, then it would probably be a good idea to separate himself from the ghost side as much as possible.

Because he wasn't a ghost. He wasn't.

But that's what people were going to think.

Staring up at the ceiling, he felt his mind shut down as the day set down on him all at once. He was already dreaming of the ocean, calm and serene and always changing.

_Phantom._ It was the final waking thought he had before he drifted off to the hum of the portal downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Karkat's finally put himself into the position of a lifetime by making himself a superhero! Reluctantly, but he's still doing it. Hopefully, he knows what he's doing (he doesn't).
> 
> I'll see you all next chapter and that you have a nice day!


	8. One of a Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter up and we're getting further into the fray. Karkat's getting used to ghost powers for better or for worse, but things will begin to get mess up soon. Hopefully, he'll learn to get past it as well.
> 
> For anyone that notes how different this is to the actual episodes so far, I'd like to say that I'm mostly sticking to the premises of each episode and the arrival of each ghost, but avoiding repeating lines from the actual episode since they roles are being played by far different people. This keeps things fresh and new so that something different can be added to the story.
> 
> Also, I hope everyone out there is keeping safe and make sure to practice cleanliness habits these days. I won't mention the situation directly, but I wish everyone the best during this troubling time and I hope this fanfiction provides some form of escape for you if you need it.
> 
> Now, onto the show!

Karkat realized one thing after being a superhero for one week that he probably should've considered; being a superhero was really inconvenient.

Spades had been keeping the portal open for only short periods of time while trying to come up with ways to study it, especially the inside of it. To his son's great frustration, the occasional ghost would slip out of it and get outside the house.

On the upside, most of them were mindless ectopuses that honestly felt less dangerous after dealing with the lunch lady ghost or random animals that ranged from harmless to only a minor threat. Some consisted of wayward ghost cats searching for something to the occasional ghost wolf that had to be sucked up into the thermos. The only real threat they presented to him was the existential nightmare of animals having souls and waking him up late at night.

He rarely even had to fight them in some cases as long as he caught them by surprise.

However, he did have to deal with one human ghost that apparently wanted nothing more to do than cause some serious headaches to him and his friends.

"I am the Box Ghost! Beware!"

This fucking guy was going to be the death of him, he just knew it.

"Beware yourself, you overall-wearing bastard!" Karkat yelled, attempting to catch the ghost quickly before he could do anymore damage to the warehouse they found themselves in. The ghost was simply dodging him at this point, throwing boxes at him telekinetically the entire time.

None of the members of the group knew where he came from, who he was before becoming a ghost, or why exactly he was focused on _boxes_ of all things, but he was determined to make his life hell apparently.

Karkat dodged the boxes expertly or simply phased through them whenever he could. He hadn't yet mastered using his powers simultaneously, but it wasn't like the boxes themselves were a great danger. Anything _within _them could cause it though. Eventually, the Box Ghost reached the end of the warehouse and cornered himself.

"Alright," The half-ghost teen huffed, slowing to a stop in front of the grown ghost. "Can we please just take a minute here and not fight for ten seconds? I'm getting real tired of putting you back in the Ghost Zone."

"I am too!" The Box Ghost huffed, almost pouting like a small child. "If you just let me hang around with my cubicle wonders, I wouldn't have to escape."

"Look," Karkat pulled out the thermos, pointing it at him. "I'll figure out how to let you do that, but you gotta give me time. Until then, stay in the fucking Ghost Zone."

"But-" Karkat would've felt guilty for interrupting him if this wasn't the fourth time he sucked him into the thermos this week.

He really would try to find some way to make sure he's happy or something. It wasn't like he found the Box Ghost doing anything particularly heinous or anything, he was just more or less hanging out in the warehouses. But his dad _did_ have that ecto-detector laying around and until he found a way to make sure Boxy didn't end up on a dissection table, he was going to stay inside the Ghost Zone.

God, when did his life become so complicated?

Karkat flew out of the warehouse, eventually finding his friends outside. The week hadn't exactly been easy on them too, but they were managing. He honestly didn't want to bother them with this type of shit, especially since most of it wasn't that dangerous currently, but they'd been insistent since the fight with Mrs. Littlemeyer. Ghost hunting cut into their schedule a bit, but it thankfully hadn't gotten too bad since then. School work was being done on time.

"Surprised you guys stuck around." Karkat wanted to tell them he had it handled but figured that would only start another argument. "It's just Boxy, not like he's a real threat."

"You say that but getting busted lip from a box of staplers says otherwise." Aradia replied, rolling her eyes. She looked him over carefully, raising an eyebrow. "I'm guessing he didn't land a hit this time?"

"Getting knocked out by staplers would teach him to dodge." Sollux hands clumsily fiddled with the clasp of the first aid kit they'd started bringing along with them. "Then again, this is Karkat."

"Ha, ha, real hilarious, jackass." Karkat floated himself closer, raising the thermos up and moving it slightly. "I captured Boxy without incident, okay? He's not going to be a problem for the rest of the night."

"I'd suggest leaving him in there, but I'm pretty sure trapping him in a 'cylindrical prison' overnight would only make him angrier." Aradia laughed to herself before sighing, putting away the ecto-gun she'd been holding. They'd all taken one from under Spades nose to make sure they were prepared. "Any idea how to keep him away for longer?"

"I'd drop him off somewhere within the Ghost Zone and see how long it takes to get back if I wasn't afraid of keeping the damn portal open." Karkat moved down lower to the ground, debating on turning into his regular form just yet. "You guys still planning on staying out? Usually the ghosts taper off by now."

"I might head home." Sollux yawned, as if to grind in the point that he was tired as all hell. "I don't think my dad has caught on just yet, but if I stay out any longer, he might start to suspect I'm doing drugs or something."

"Yeah, Heido is really starting to get on my case." Aradia grumbled, fighting off a yawn herself. "I might cut it out for tonight too." The two looked expectantly towards Karkat.

Said teen shifted a bit in the air in thought before nodding and floating upwards. "I think I'll do another sweep of the town just in case. Rather not hear about glowing snakes in the morning from the neighbors again."

They nodded, though he could see them hesitate for a brief second. He flew up and head off to the park before they could say anything else, if only to let them sleep for the night.

Once he was far enough away from the area, Karkat sighed to himself and felt some of his energy drain out of him. He had to let them sleep at some point, but they always tried to follow him whenever they could. He knew they still felt guilty for the accident, even if they were trying to turn things around, so they just kept going on patrol with him.

It wasn't a great feeling, knowing they were doing it out of guilt. But he didn't feel like arguing about it either, so it was going to have to be like this until they could come up with a better solution.

Karkat did his best to let his mind empty as he flew through air. He didn't like a lot of things about this situation, but he had to admit that flying was pretty relaxing when he wasn't dodging random projectiles. The wind flowing past him was gentle, the night was quiet, and seeing everything from above was almost eye-opening.

The streetlights were on, dotting the streets in a hazy glow. People's houses were either dormant or bustling with activity. The park had a random pattern of lights, offset by glowing, green cages and someone floating in the middle of it…

….And, peacetime over.

Karkat felt himself growl as the smoke exited his mouth once again. He learned how to not cough while it happened, but that didn't mean having it stream out of his mouth at inopportune times was something he enjoyed. He started floating gently downward to the floating figure. Reaching a safe enough distance, he looked over the figure and… honestly couldn't believe it.

Was he made of _metal?_

Vantas assumed it had to be a ghost since it set off his ghost sense, but it honestly looked more like a robot. The entire thing was made out of metal, something glowing and unidentifiable. It had the form of a bodybuilder, extremely top heavy and makeshift armor making him only look bulkier. There was also the fact it was wearing black pants, a black tank top, a utility belt, and flaming green mohawk.

Frankly, it was weirder than the lunch lady ghost. And of course, he had to investigate it.

He did his best to avoid the robot's field of vision, moving slowly towards its back. He noted that one of the cages he could look into had some ghost animals within it, which explained why there was a lack of them earlier. He could also see that the robot was typing something into its arm.

"An abundance of animal ghost congregating in this area, otherwise known as Amity Park. Known portal seems to be attracting attention, might become a problem later on." _He_ spoke in a deep voice, most to himself. "Might have to investigate scientist later. Spend time in the lab. Otherwise, write up the report and leave."

Karkat honestly had enough eavesdropping for one day and decided to move back before speaking. "Having a nice night, stranger?" He said sarcastically.

Predictably, the ghost robot swung around in alarm, reaching for a pocket on his utility belt before stopping. His face was vaguely skull like, lacking a nose, but had visible green eyes and a mouth. The teen couldn't help but notice that his belt had a zigzag 'S' on the front of the belt.

This thing had really tacky fashion sense.

"Who in the hell are you?" The robot asked, eyes narrowing at the unprecedented guest. "You weren't in any of the reports. I certainly would've remembered hearing about a brat wearing a hazmat suit."

"Bold words from someone dressed like Iron Man cosplaying as Dog the Bounty Hunter." Karkat figured he shouldn't have made that crack, but it was too tempting. "And I'm pretty sure I asked you a question first, pal. Never seen a ghost like you before."

"There's no other ghost like me." He seemed to have relaxed a bit, though he didn't take his eyes off of Karkat. "If you must know, whelp, I'm known as Skulker. And I don't exactly have a lot of time to be dealing with younglings, so I'd suggest moving along."

"It was just a question, man." The teen raised his hands defensively. He motioned to the cages, shrugging. He still couldn't see what was inside the other one. "I'm not looking for a fight. Just haven't seen that many ghosts in the human world that can actually hold a conversation. Especially ones with cages."

Skulker growled but didn't make a move to force him away. He looked at the caged animals with narrowed eyes before shifting his gaze back to him. "You know what? You think you can tell me some things about this place? I don't necessarily have a lot of intel."

"Answer some of mine and we'll have a deal." Karkat felt himself smile under the mask. Getting some answers would be fucking excellent right now.

The robot didn't seem that enthused by the opportunity if the way he rolled his eyes was any indication, but he didn't bother to argue. "Fine." He grumbled, getting slightly more relaxed. "Would you happen to know anything about the portal that was constructed in this area?"

"Some things." Karkat shrugged noncommittally, getting into a casual position. He was going to keep some things to his chest, but he might as well play it like he was being honest. "I know _something's_ active around here and letting some ghosts out. Not sure where it is, though." He titled his head, narrowing his own eyes at the robot ghost. "Now, onto my question; what are you doing here?"

Skulker didn't seem satisfied with the answer he gave but complied. " I was following some prey when I heard about a portal being created in the area. Apparently, some of the ghost zones wildlife was getting out and I was asked to check things out around here and track down the problem."

"Prey." That really didn't set off any good signals to Karkat, but he'd wait to judge.

Skulker got on to his next question. "How many ghosts have you seen so far in the area? Just to have a rough estimate."

"Not many." Karkat shook his head. "It's either animal ghosts running around, but I've seen only two other human ones running around here. Some lunch lady and a dude obsessed with boxes."

"Of course, that idiot would find this place first." The robot ghost rolled his green eyes, looking about the area with a critical eye. "Though I can't blame him. Natural portals are too unpredictable."

Natural portals? The teen felt himself grow uneasy at that. There really wasn't a lot that he knew about the ghost zone, and every new thing just made it all the more terrifying. "What kind of hunter are you?" He asked carefully.

Skulker gained a prideful grin on his face, one that was made all the stranger due to his metal face. "The greatest one you'll find in the Infinite Realms."

Despite the smug tone, Karkat wasn't necessarily impressed. Though, was the Infinite Realms what they called the Ghost Zone? "That doesn't really clear things up for me."

Skulkers smug mask dissipated into one of disbelief. "You seriously haven't heard of me? I mean, I figured you didn't recognize me, but you haven't heard of me once?"

"Never. And you just used up two questions, buddy." Karkat tried not to snicker as the robot only got more pissed off.

"Do not sass me, whelp." He pointed a finger into the teens face, glaring with restrained fury. "I am known as the toughest, most persistent hunter that has ever been known within the Infinite Realms, or virtually anywhere that's within the borders of the Furthest Ring. I suggest treating me with the respect I deserve."

"You're also known as a poacher and jackass, but you're not really fond of that, are you?"

The intrusion of a third voice caused the two to jump and separate. Karkat was the first to react, moving past the robot and look within the cage he previously couldn't see in to.

Somehow, the person inside of it was almost as strange looking as the robot.

The girl was probably around his age with only a year difference at best, if he could guess. She was wearing a green trench coat that hung over a purple shirt and green pants, but no shoes. He figured none would fit since her feet, along with her hands, were seemingly replaced with cat-like claws covered in purple fur and had long yellow nails. Her face had similarly colored whiskers on it, accentuated by light skinned, freckled face and eyes that were green and had slits within them.

The entire ensemble was finished by a pair of purple-furred ears atop her head and a similarly colored tail that twitched angrily.

"Didn't I tell you to keep quiet." Skulker didn't seem phased by the girl's strange appearance. "If I didn't have enough problems dealing with this situation, one of you Leijon's just _had _to appear."

"It's not my fault you decided to try and hunt down that ghost dodo." The 'Leijon' replied, rolling her eyes. "There not a lot of those little guys around without you trying to cut them down. My family at least hunts for practical reasons rather than looking for trophy's."

"I said quiet!" Skulker punched the metal of the cage, causing her to flinch. "I've had enough of your incessant prattling. I'm on the clock here and I'm starting to get tired of these intrusions!"

"Speaking of intrusions," Karkat started, having gotten over the shock of seeing a real life _catgirl_. "You mind telling me what you're planning on doing with her?"

"And how is that any of your business?" The robot ghost was beyond irritated know, his hands clenched and eyes hardening.

"Humor me. I mean, I'm kind of a concerned that you have a teenage girl in a cage right now, so I'd like it if you answered the fucking question." Karkat tensed up too. He honestly did not like what he was seeing right now. He knew he was being optimistic when he thought he was going to avoid a fight with him.

At this, Skulker almost let out a chuckle. He gave a threatening smile, full of metal teeth towards the girl in the cage. "It has been a while since I took the pelt off a more anthropomorphic creature. Maybe it's time to add another to the collection."

Well, that made things so much easier.

While Skulker looked at the girl, Karkat grabbed the thermos and pointed at the robot ghost. Before he could pull the trigger, his opponent took notice and immediately flew to the side, avoiding its sucking beam.

Karkat barely had a second to react before Skulker launched forward, attempting to tackle him. He quickly dodged, moving below the hunk of metal with yelp, turning backward. He growled and stowed away the thermos, switching to an ecto-gun, firing a few shots at the ghosts back.

Some of them connected, causing him to wobble in the air before turning back. A scowl present on his face, a compartment flipped open on his arm, a laser gun of his own firing at him as he aimed at the teen.

Karkat dodged by a hair. "Jesus fuck, dude!" He said, stabilizing after a second. "What the hell are you packing under there?"

"Everything thing I need to take down punks like you." The confidence coming from the robot unsettled the teen, which was only compounded after he lifted his other arm to fire, other compartments opening to reveal more guns.

"Jesus, you are the NRA's wet dream." Karkat immediately dodged another shot, though he heard a cackle from Leijon. "At least someone appreciates my jokes."

"You won't be telling them any longer." Skulker fired his weapons at Karkat, who moved upward to avoid them. The teen responded with a few shots of his own, with only a couple of them landing.

Seeing as how shooting him wasn't working, Skulker changed tactics. A compartment from his back opened up, missiles rising out of them before firing.

Karkat moved to the side hurriedly, letting them fly past. However, one of them turned back, homing in on him. The ghostly teen attempted to fly away from it, bobbing and weaving more shots sent by Skulker. However, the missile caught up slowly, reaching him minute by minute.

Karkat felt panic enter his system, his mind blanking as the missile came closer. He made bigger turns to avoid it and the blasts Skulker sent his way, but it still chased after him. An idea formed, though, causing him to make change course one final time.

This time, heading straight for that fucking robot.

Diving headlong at him, Karkat turned, dived, and spun around the shots as best he could, but some still hit him head on, singing his suit and burning at his skin. Hissing in pain, he still kept going forward. The closer he got to Skulker, the closer the missile got to him.

At the last second before he would have gotten to Skulker, he sharply turned upward, the missile whistling past him. The robot ghost barely had time to put his arms before the missile hit him dead on.

Karkat, while safely out of the blast zone, was hit by some shrapnel in his leg. He cursed loudly, grabbing at it as he attempted to stem the flow of ectoplasm coming out of it. Adrenaline still in his veins, he looked around the area. He only had a few seconds to see the flaming green mohawk before a _searing pain_ in his left side came on, causing him to double over.

Before he could react fully to the pain, Skulker grabbed him by the back of his neck and threw him into the cage with Leijon. Looking back to the robot, Karkat noticed his arm, partially mangled by the explosion, had a blade sticking out of it now that had his ectoplasm on it. Looking down, he noticed that the left side of his torso had a gash in it, leaking ectoplasm at an alarming rate.

He attempted not to flinch out of panic when Skulker started speaking again. "As much I can appreciate a good fight, I am on the clock here. I guess I'll just have to take you _both_ with me and determine what do with you later."

Karkat felt himself attempt to move up, but Leijon put a paw on him to stand down. The look on her face was wrathful, but she seemed to think it was best to remain quiet.

Skulker only huffed at the show of defiance, turning back to the cage full of animal ghosts, cataloging them. When he did, Leijon pulled out a small flask, opening the cap. When he gave her a look, she only frowned and pushed it into his hands. He didn't attempt to argue, the pain from his wound stopping his words. Pulling down the gas mask, he put the flask to his lips and gulped.

Whatever it was, it didn't exactly have a noticeable taste to it. It was thick and had the consistency of snot, which was off putting, but he couldn't help but feel a tad bit better after drinking it. A strange feeling came from the wound, which after finishing the swig, he looked down at to find that the opening had closed. The pain of it still remained, however, the area feeling sore.

"It was a pretty fun fight to watch. I mean until you, ya' know." She put out her hand, her smile inviting, but containing fangs. "Names Nepeta. Might as well know my new roommate."

"Phantom." He wasn't exactly as cheery about the situation. He looked around the cage, keeping his voice low. "Any idea how we can get out of this thing?"

"You wouldn't have found me here if there was." Nepeta didn't seem to show her concern about the situation, laying her back against the bars, hands behind her head. The only thing that betrayed her nonchalance was her tail, which twitched in agitation. "Though it shouldn't be hard to surprise ol' Skulky here. Don't know how far he'll take us into the Infinite Realms, but metalhead's got another thing coming if he thinks we're going to his lair."

As much as those words were supposed to be comforting, they really weren't. Karkat couldn't exactly afford to go inside the Ghost Zone just yet, especially if he was going to get lost in it. God knows he hasn't even stepped inside the portal since the accident.

"Is there literally any other way that we can escape?" He tried to stifle the instinct to hyperventilate right then and there, instantly looking for some way to get out of there. There were no discernable locks and even there was, he wasn't the type to pick them. He should've had Aradia teach him how after that one weird phase she was into true crime. "I cannot go to the Ghost Zone. I just can't."

Nepeta raised her eyebrow at this, but only shrugged. "No way for a ghost to get out of her. If you were a human, you could probably phase us out of here."

Those words stilled him, pulling him back from what could've been a bad panic attack. "This thing can't contain humans?"

"Yeah," The catgirl laughed, flicking a metal bar. "It's an ecto-cage. Can only contain anything made out of ectoplasm. Humans would just go right through it."

"Alright," Skulker interrupted, moving away from the animal cage in an irritated huff. "What are you two whelps muttering about?"

Karkat took a look at him before looking at Nepeta. He repeated the action several times, eyes wide and remaining quiet as he did so.

Before Skulker could so much as blink, Karkat set off his transformation, grabbing Nepeta with one hand and flipping off the robot ghost with another.

"Later bitch." The teen said as he shifted through the floor with Leijon in tow.

A difference to note when it comes to flying and freefalling; flying was relaxing since you were the only one in control of the situation. There was little possibility that anything would actively hurt you unless you weren't paying attention, or something just happened to get in your way.

Freefalling from an ecto-cage with a catgirl ghost was a terrifying and Karkat wished for it to be over.

"How the fuck-" Nepeta started, the gravity of the situation ironically not registering for her.

"Just fly, dammit!" Karkat immediately brought out the ecto-gun, aiming it at the dazed Skulker. Aiming at one of his wings, he fired immediately, hitting it and causing him to go into a freefall of his own.

Nepeta must've got the memo as they suddenly weren't falling anymore, with the ghost grabbing him and pulling him away from the scene. The winds hit them hard, causing Karkat to hold onto her for dear life, cursing the entire time as they moved. When they got a good distance away, they moved downward, into the trees below.

Once they fully stopped, Nepeta put him down on the ground before grabbing the lapels of his jacket, pulling him close so they were eye-to-eye.

"How in the fuck did you do that?" Nepeta was practically inspecting him at this point, letting him go to float around him. She looked positively curious about all of this, eyes alight with it. "I'm furr-eaking grateful that you did, but just how?"

"Look, we don't have the time to get into all of that." Karkat wasn't sure how long it would take for Skulker to find them, but he suspected it wouldn't be long. "Does Skulker have anything that can detect ectoplasm? If he does, we might need to split up."

"Considering you're human now, I don't think he'll be able to find you." Nepeta switched back into carefulness, looking at the sky with keen eyes. "Maybe I can run. I don't think he's fast enough to catch me, but…" She shrugged. The confidence wasn't exactly airtight if the shaky smile was to be believed.

He was about to argue, but he started to hear rockets bursting in the distance. Clamping his mouth shut, he looked down at his belt and grabbed the thermos. "Get in this." He said simply, pointing the open end towards her.

"Excuse me?" She said, looking down at the invention with skepticism.

"Look, it might hide your ecto-signature or something, just…" He trailed off, the sounds of rockets coming closer by the second. His face clenched, giving her an apologetic look. "Sorry about this." He said, pushing the button to suck her inside.

After committing to it, he ran off into the park, hiding in some bushes before the roar of the rockets came closer. He held his hands over his mouth, attempting not to breath as he heard something land not too far from him.

He heard the stomping footsteps, an eerie green glow emanating throughout the clearing. Skulker was grumbling, cursing to himself lowly before he started to shout.

"Whelp!" He went, causing Karkat to flinch at the sudden noise. "I'd suggest giving yourself up now, otherwise I will go on the hunt for you later. Especially since you've proven to be interesting prey."

Karkat didn't let out a peep in response, his hands gripping tighter against his mouth. After a few moments of silence, a sigh could be heard from the robot ghost. "Fine then. Have it your way." He could hear thrusters going off in the distance, moving away from his position.

The teen gave it a few more minutes before letting himself breath again, unclasping his hands and taking in deep breaths. He stayed there for a minute or so, attempting to calm down his heartbeat and control his breathing.

After the panic finally settled and he could have a few moments to think, he looked at the thermos with glassy eyes.

"I have to get home." He mumbled to himself, before running off in the direction he thought would take him out of the park.

* * *

With a liberal use of his powers and lot of sneaking through alleys, it didn't take too long for Karkat to get home. He was honestly glad his dad hadn't installed that ghost security system he was ranting about to focus more on actually getting a probe into it that wouldn't bug out after a few minutes.

He found it was strangely easy to slip in and out of his house when Spades was around. It wasn't an encouraging thought.

He opened up the portal, typing in the passcode and putting the thermos into the slot. The ghost filtered out, with most of them filtering in without incident. The Box Ghost tried to get out but raising the ecto-gun at him sent the message not to mess with him.

Nepeta got out last and, honestly, didn't appear as pissed as he thought she would be.

"Some warning would be appreciated." She grumbled, floating indignantly at the entrance. Karkat saw her eyes narrow at first before she shrugged. "Though, I'll look over it since you saved my afterlife and all. I have a furr-eaking ton of questions."

"Later." He said finally. He hated to cut this all so short with the first _friendly_ ghost he's met so far, but he didn't want to risk his father waking up to find exactly what he was hunting for in his basement. "There's a ghost hunter upstairs and I'd rather he didn't know you were here. Sorry about sticking you in the thermos and all, but unless you want to be put on a dissection table, you might want to head into the Ghost Zone."

"But Skulker's still out there!" She interrupted but blinked after a second. "Wait, did you say ghost hunter? Like, an actual one? I thought humans didn't believe in ghosts."

"This one does." He mentally debated pushing her in, eye twitching in irritation. "So, I'd suggest getting inside the fucking portal, or-"

"Kid? Are you down there?"

Spades tired voice came from atop the stairs, causing both to jump. Karkat instantly clamped his hand down on Nepeta's mouth. "Yeah, just forgot my bookbag down here! Nothing to worry about, Dad!"

There was a moment of tense silence where Karkat immediately thought he was caught, but Spades eventually grumbled something before calling down again. "Alright. Just don't touch anything while you're down there and get to bed soon."

"Got it!" Karkat felt relieved, hand dropping from Nepeta's mouth. He looked over at the ghost girl, who looked like she had more questions.

"The ghost hunter is your dad?" He honestly hadn't seen anyone that was this confused before in his life and would've felt sorry for it if he wasn't so goddam tired right now.

"Just get in. I'll find a way to deal with Skulker, but until then, you better hide out for now." Karkat made his way to the button that would close the portal before she could argue. "Either that, or it shoot you through it. Your choice."

"Fine, fine." Nepeta moved towards the portal but stopped and gave him one final look. "You know I'm probably just gonna' sneak back here as soon as this portal is opened again, right?"

"You wouldn't be the first." He rolled his eyes as she finally went in, closing the portal one final time. Now that _that_ was over with, he was probably going to start dreading tomorrow.

Hopefully his friends would take it well.

* * *

"You met what?!"

Sollux was not taking it well, which Karkat didn't want to deal with right now. He was able to finish his homework last night, but it took a while to get to sleep since not all of the adrenaline had left him until late into the night. He had a thermos full of coffee to nurse until he could nap in study hall, but that was it.

"I had to save a catgirl ghost from a robot with a green mohawk. What part of that do you not understand?" Karkat knew he shouldn't give his friend crap for this, but he was cranky. "I really don't want to explain it again. I don't fucking believe me either."

"Sadly, we kinda have to." Aradia had arrived on the bus today looking pretty positive about today until now. She already looked exhausted herself. "Our lives became so fucking weird."

"I fucking know, AA." Sollux pressed his forehead into the seat ahead of them, moaning to himself. "We can't let any weebs know about this, otherwise they'll go insane."

"You shouldn't talk." Karkat chuckled. "I remember a couple of years ago how you wanted to buy a katana for yourself after watching some samurai anime."

Sollux flicked him in the nose for that, glaring at him from above the seat. "I thought we agreed to never speak about it again."

"We're your friends. It's required to bring up your most embarrassing phases." Aradia laughed as well, looking a tad bit more cheerful than before. "Though, that doesn't change the fact that we got a big problem on our hands."

"True." Karkat sipped at coffee carefully, wincing at the bitter taste. He hadn't had time to add sugar before leaving the house. "I can't exactly let Skulker run around. He already threatened to skin a ghost alive and now he knows about me too, so I'm probably screwed."

"It doesn't sound he can track you that easily for a 'great hunter.' It sounds like we might just need to lay low for a while. I'm sure he'll get bored and go off somewhere else if we do." Sollux shifted in his seat awkwardly. "Besides, I don't think we're ready to go off and fight a walking armory."

"He's got a point." Aradia didn't like the idea of an undead poacher being out and about either, but a few ecto-guns and some superpowers weren't exactly going to help them fight off a _robot_. "Besides, if things get bad enough, we can try and get that other ghost to help."

"I don't know how to contact Nepeta at all, though. Didn't exactly occur to me to exchange numbers or anything since I doubt a ghost would have a cell phone." Karkat leaned against the window, closing his eyes. "We'll figure it out when got the time. Until then, I just want to get some sleep."

"You do that." Aradia patted him on the shoulder. "Sounds like we're going to all have some sleepless nights ahead, huh."

"I hope not. I got that presentation in a couple of days." Sollux shrugged. He gave his friend the side eye too. "You might want to make that coffee last too. We're having that fieldtrip to the zoo later."

"Goddamn it." That would take up study hall, meaning he'll have to put off the nap until later. He opened his eyes, looking outside mournfully. "I really wish they cancelled school for a little longer so we can get used to this shi-"

Karkat stopped suddenly, seeing something in the distance. Straightening up, he fished his phone out of his pocket, opening the camera app.

"Something wrong, KK?" Sollux didn't like how he moved up like that, feeling the tension from him. Aradia glanced at him, wordlessly communicating her own worry.

"Shut up." He muttered. Karkat wasn't exactly sure what he saw, but he could've sworn he saw a flash of green flying over there. It could've been an obnoxiously painted drone for all he knew, but that didn't make him feel any better. Zooming in on the phone's camera, it shakily focused on…

Skulker. Flying in broad fucking daylight.

Shit.

He felt his friends shift behind him, trying to see what he was looking at. "Is that him?" Aradia had whispered in a quiet tone, but it almost felt thunderous in his ears. Sollux was muttering about how Skulker looked, most likely in panicked tones as well.

Karkat moved his finger to the center button to take a picture, figuring it would be best to get one to document this bullshit. Why the hell was he just flying outside like that? Did he _want_ to catch attention to himself? He hasn't heard anyone else on the bus talking about it, but he really hoped that idiot wised up and hid before someone _did._

He clicked to take a photograph right when the ghost looked in his direction.

Karkat immediately moved down, attempting to hide despite knowing the robot couldn't see him. It was probably fruitless if he did, though, but it made him feel better. At least Aradia and Sollux shared in his fear, still keeping an eye on the figure in the distance as Karkat's head was pulled into Aradia's lap.

They stayed like that for several minutes before Karkat eventually fell asleep from the stress and lack of sleep.

* * *

The rest of the day hadn't been much better after that.

Karkat was able to pay attention to lessons pretty well and did any assessments thrown his way pretty well, but the overwhelming feeling of paranoia was present throughout the day. He wondered if this was just another part of his punishment for stepping into the portal since he could've swore he was seeing that fucking robot everywhere.

Science almost became a nightmare after he dropped a beaker seeing Skulker moving about on school grounds outside.

He fell on himself during gym when he saw something flying out of reach, seemingly scanning the campus with a critical eye.

It was difficult to write up the prompts in English class having a feeling of being watched. Hopefully Mr. Lancer didn't think he was losing his mind or anything if he saw him looking outside the window a lot.

Karkat couldn't help but be glad when he heard that the trip to the zoo was being postponed a class period due to scheduling disputes. It made sure that he had time for study hall, meaning a quick nap from this nightmare.

His friends were able to make it too, thankfully, as they all hung out in their private place in the library. Their discussion was, of course, focused on Skulker.

"I honestly can't keep living like this." Karkat moaned, curled up on the couch and rocking himself gently. "It's fucking exhausting keeping an eye out for that idiot. Why the fuck is he investigating the school?"

"He did see you transform, dude. He probably figured you were young enough to be here." Sollux clicked away at his old DS, legs under Karkat's. "He'll lose interest as long as he doesn't see you at all, like we talked about."

"I'm starting to wonder it that's actually viable though." Aradia was checking out the old books, trying to find something she hadn't read before in the stacks. "Karkat did show off his human side to him and that most likely made things to interesting to pass up. We might actually have to deal with him if he figures out who he is."

"Real encouraging words there, guys." Karkat sighed. He moved up into a sitting position, clicking his tongue. "I honestly don't know much more than that he's got an arsenal on him that rivals my dad's own weapons safe. I can fly and all, but he catches me off guard for one second, I'm sure I'll be double dead within seconds."

"Can ghosts die twice?" He heard Sollux mumble before shaking his head. He looked at his friend over his game system. "We could try to get some information or something before going after him. If he's not going to stop, we'll have to make him."

"Maybe we really should consider looking for that Nepeta girl. She's got information on him and probably knows how to take him down best." Pulling out a book, she frowned and put it back carefully where it was. "Then again, will she really want to help us?"

"Probably." Karkat actually laughed at this, remembering Nepeta's face when Skulker talked to her. "She was _not_ happy to know he was there. She'll want to tear that fucker a new one if he-" His laughter, along with his sentence, were cut off as he felt a cough escape his lips. Grabbing his face, he let the smoke come out slowly as he pushed the coughs down.

Before his two friends could react fully to the smell of smoke, a voice from above them rang out.

"I think we can come to an arrangement."

Looking up, the three saw Nepeta, perched on her side at the top of the bookcase with a sly grin. She raised her finger up into a peace sign as, fangs showing as she smiled.

"Sup."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now someone is on Karkat's tail and he's getting very paranoid about it. At least it appears he might have a (tentative) ally in case things go south.
> 
> For future reference, while some of the original ghost from Danny Phantom are appearing here, some will be replaced by the trolls and kids later on to make sure to include everyone. I was originally going to have one of the Leijon's take over as Skulker, but the personalities didn't match so I've made it so that they know each other. More on that will be expanded next chapter. I'm mostly trying to make each normal episode about two to three chapters long, with specials being given special attention.
> 
> Now, I'll make sure to see you all next chapter and that you all have a nice day!


	9. Million to One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, this one was a doozy to write! Hopefully this meets your expectations, though I can't say that I fully enjoy what I've done with it. Could've done somethings better within, but it could be worse. At least I'll get some more practice involving action scenes from this fic.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you review soon!

The little section of the library was completely silent as Karkat, Aradia, and Sollux stared down the catgirl ghost in front of them, receiving only a curious stare back. While the air couldn't be called tense, it did have a certain element to it that made it heavy.

The heaviness was lifted after Karkat groaned, putting his face into his hands. "Jesus Christ, how does my dad not notice any ghosts getting out of the portal? Is he that fucking unobservant?"

"Seems like it, because I got out of there with no one to stop me." Nepeta leaped off the shelf, landing on her feet with her arms behind her back. She rocked back and forth with a smile on her face. "So, I heard you wanted to send ol' Skulky out of town. A tall order, really, but I'm willing to lend some help."

Karkat narrowed his eyes at that, looking at her with a level of mistrust. "And why do you want to do that?"

"You do remember he was planning on skinning me alive, right?" She floated quietly to the shelves nearby, looking them over. "Besides, it isn't like there's anyone else that's purr-fect for the job like I am. My family has had a lot of scrapes with him before, and I certainly know how to leave a scratch."

"She does cat puns. Fantastic." Sollux muttered, straightening out seconds later. "Don't get me wrong, we'd love your help and all, but we've been having a pretty bad track record with ghosts."

"We'd like that to change," Aradia jumped in, waving her arms in front of her. "But so far, two ghosts have tried to kill one of us. It's kind of hard to trust anyone right now."

Nepeta looked a little concerned at this, eyeing the three. "Am I seriously the only friendly ghost you've met? Next you'll be telling me you haven't been in the Infinite Realms before."

The three didn't answer and gave each other nervous glances at her statement. The ghost seemed to realize the error of her statement and raised her own hands defensively. "Sorry. I'm guessing Phantom here hasn't been dead too long?"

"I'm not dead." Karkat said it sharply, denying it before she could talk further. "I just have ghost powers. Got them when my dad's portal opened on me."

Nepeta didn't look convinced but decided to drop it. "Whatever makes you happy." She shrugged and went back to floating.

"It's fine." Aradia sent him a look, but he ignored it, twisting at a loose piece of fabric on his jacket. "It's been a tough time on all of us. I kind of want to get back to talking about Skulker, please?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Sollux wanted to change the subject as much as Karkat did. "You said you can put a scratch on him if you need to. Does he have some sort of weakness?"

"You could say that." Nepeta floated closer to them, ignoring how they tensed. "It's less of a weakness and more of a way to ease everyone's conscience. You can pretty much do anything to his body as long as you don't do anything to the head."

"The heck is that supposed to mean?" Karkat had absolutely no idea if this girl could even be trusted at this point, but he might as well go along with the plan. "Is that whole thing just a suit?"

"Pretty much! I mean, he says his obsession involves being the greatest hunter, buuuut," She suddenly flew in close, hand moved to cover one side of her face as she whispered to them conspiratorially. "It's really overcompensation. Trust me, you'll understand if we can actually defeat him."

"If we actually defeat him? It doesn't sound like you know how to kick his ass either." Aradia felt irritation of her own settle in her. "Tearing him apart sounds fun and all, but that does require that we can get to him."

Nepeta did wince at that, moving away from them carefully. "I'm more of an on-the-fly type of thinker, okay? It can't be that hard to get to him, especially with four of us."

"You mean two people with ghost powers and two people who have only relatively weak ghost weapons." Sollux pinched the bridge of his nose. "He has an arsenal fit for a small army packed up in his body. I honestly don't like our chances here."

Karkat rolled his eyes and was about to say something else before noticing the time. He swore, noting that it was starting to get late and they'd have to start heading for the field trip soon.

"We're going to have to figure out things later. We're going to have to get on the bus soon." The teen looked up at the catgirl ghost, frowning. "You can follow us by flying around, but you got to stay invisible. If we can get some time alone, we can probably talk some more about this later."

Nepeta didn't look happy about this, but she only nodded. "Got it. Human stuff getting in the way. We _really _do need to get Skulker taken care of, though." She faded out of visibility, waving as she drifted off. "See you later!"

As soon as she was gone, at least from vision, the three visibly relaxed. However, they immediately straightened out, grabbing their stuff, and heading out to the school's courtyard.

They could all feel in their guts that the trip to the zoo wasn't going to be very fun at all.\

* * *

"Alright everyone," Mr. Lancer started, his tone giving no room for argument as he looked over the class he'd been put in charge of. "I'm expecting everyone to be on their best behavior for today. We'll be one of the first to see the new enclosures, so that I expect to hear any trouble that happens to not involve anyone here."

"Yes Mr. Lancer." The class said in tired unison. Karkat in particular rolled his eyes, attempting to look over the sky's. He couldn't see hide nor ghostly hair of Skulker, which was only a slight relief. That didn't mean he wasn't invisible or some other shit that would make it difficult to find him. As far as he could tell, neither of his friends could see anything either, but that didn't calm his nerves at all.

"This guy really isn't a fan favorite, is he?" Came a voice from his left, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. The teen was glad he decided to hang at the back of the crowd, otherwise he was sure someone else would've heard that.

"He's not exactly the most interesting teacher, but he's mostly okay." Karkat muttered, making sure no one else could hear him. "Though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate you saying that."

"I can take him." He could hear Nepeta punch one hand into another, a challenge in her voice. "Maybe if I do, we can get the whole Skulker thing out of the way."

"Please don't attack my teacher." Karkat groaned. Lancer was on another one of his lectures again, starting to lead the class to a random enclosure. "I'd rather keep my list of problems down to a minimum, thank you." He paused before sending a look where he thought she was. "I'll keep that in mind, though."

Snickering, he felt a small wind move past his shoulders, causing him to shiver. "Y'know, school really isn't a thing in the Infinite Realms. I'm starting to understand why. It's just so _boring._"

Karkat frowned. He looked around him, noting that any of his classmates that were closest to him were too wrapped up in their conversations to pay attention to him, emboldening him. He might as well start getting some questions answered. "You keep calling the Ghost Zone that. The Infinite Realms. Is that it's official name?"

He heard a hum crossed with a purr at that, Nepeta taking a few seconds to answer. "I wouldn't call it _official_. There's no real name for the Infinite Realms that anyone can agree on, but that's the name I was taught. The Ghost Zone isn't a bad name, and you can sometimes hear people call it Purr-gatory, but that's with all the religious types."

Karkat really wished he had time to write all of this down. He wouldn't claim to be a scientist, but the fact that he was getting all of this information, second-hand as it was, was fucking mind boggling. His dad would've killed to have gotten this if he could. "And where do these other ghosts live? I get that it's a whole different dimension and all, but I got to imagine you guys don't just float around."

Despite not seeing her, he could tell that she shrugged just by the tone of her voice. "Every ghost or ghost family has a lair or something that they can call their home. I don't exactly get the science behind it- remember, no school- but they just sort of form for whoever needs it. My mom always said that it reflected everyone, from the good to the bad." She paused for a second, her voice turning wistful. "My family's lair is a cave we keep burrowing into. I really hope Muelin isn't getting lonely."

Karkat could feel a heavy wave emanate from Nepeta, creating an almost palpable disturbance in the air. He noticed a few other classmates of his start to wilt under it as well, though he must be more sensitive too it since it almost crushes him.

Time to change the subject. "You mentioned obsessions." He whispered it quickly, snapping her out of her mood. "You didn't exactly explain anything about that."

"Right." He had a feeling that Nepeta didn't catch his obvious attempt to change the subject, but welcomed it nonetheless. "Obsessions are a weird thing. Ghosts have plenty of meat and bone, but we are pretty much ectoplasm and emotion rolled into a horrible yarn ball. Obsessions are pretty much the core of what a ghost is."

That didn't necessarily explain things, but it was a start. He leaned into the subject more, giving her a wordless look to continue.

"Ghosts usually have something they focus on after they're formed, something they want and focus on for most of their after lives. It varies basically on _what_ that is, and it can change too." Nepeta clicked her tongue, thinking it over. "It's sometimes the only reason a ghost exists. But it can be a bad thing if they indulge their obsession too much or too little. Too little, and you might begin to lose form and eventually fade from existence. Too much, and you can become like Skulker and end up hurting people."

"How long does it take to form an obsession?" As informative as this was, Karkat couldn't help but feel disturbed by the concept of it. He didn't consider himself a ghost, but that didn't mean his ghost powers couldn't cause an obsession to form. Would getting involved with that obsession make him more unstable? Or would it eventually go away if he stayed away from it?

What the hell would he even obsess over?

"It varies," Nepeta continued, interrupting Karkat's thoughts. "A lot of ghosts that form from the dead usually have one form right away. Others, like ghosts that form from ectoplasm alone or are just born into it can take a long time. I definitely don't know what mine is."

That didn't exactly cover his weird situation, but something about that did help him calm down. Maybe he wouldn't form an obsession for years. If he got this entire situation under control and got rid of these freaky powers, then he'd never get one at all.

Reassuring himself, he couldn't help but latch onto one other detail that Nepeta mentioned.

_Ghosts can have kids?!_

Mr. Lancer was snapping his fingers to get everyone's attention, annoyance clear on his features. They'd finally arrived at an unfamiliar enclosure, a wide-open area with several primates at the forefront. Karkat straightened up to make it appear that he was listening in.

"I'd suggest paying attention people, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see wildlife that could be gone tomorrow." Mr. Lancer looked as tired as you'd expect him to as he watched everyone continue to talk unimpeded. He rolled his eyes and moved forward, motioning to the enclosure. "What you see here is one of the few spaces dedicated to preserving the endangered purple-back gorilla. Seeing as how few of them are left in the wild, the Amity Park Zoo has volunteered their facilities in order to help create a breeding and reintroduction program."

As much as Karkat knew what Mr. Lancer was saying was important, it became way too easy to drone him out. A part of him couldn't help but let the old childish instinct take over and try to get a glimpse of the gorillas themselves.

Only two of them were down there and they were keeping their distance from each other. He wasn't sure how Amity Park Zoo landed this since this was located in a small town in Indiana, but he it was probably to rope in a few tourists. Two of a kind down there, probably only one of thousands left.

The feeling of an invisible hand landed on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. "He's here."

So much for a pleasant day at the zoo, he guessed.

He wasn't close enough for him to trigger his ghost sense, but looking around briefly, he could see a flaming mohawk in the distance. Skulker was looking at the enclosure with a pair of binoculars, checking things out.

"Of course, he's going after endangered animals. And they're in captivity too and can't do shit about it." Nepeta growled, animalistic and enraged. An aura of malice, along with her flickering form almost solidifying right next to him caused him to grab her shoulder and pull her back.

"Don't do anything, otherwise you'll just bring him here." The class was ignoring him, thankfully, though he could tell that the emotions coming off of the Leijon was having an effect on them. They were starting to get twitchy, some getting impatient. One looked like they were getting ready to run.

He was about to say more shit until he noticed that Skulker was now looking in _his _direction. He froze up, noting that the robot ghost slowly moved down his binoculars before vanishing from sight.

Karkat could feel the amount of trouble he was in almost triple. He knew where he _was_ now. They fucking met up at the zoo. He must've seen Nepeta flickering and looked in his direction and now he was screwed. And so was the rest of the class if they got caught in the crossfire. Mr. Lancer was boring, but he sure as hell didn't deserve to die because of some lunatic poacher ghost.

Speaking of the teacher, he was slowly guiding him away from habitat, guiding them to a building located nearby. He was talking about lizards or something that was brought in, he wasn't sure. He motioned at Aradia and Sollux, who noticeably tensed at his movement. While they tried to trickle to the back, Karkat leaned towards where Nepeta was.

"Make some kind of noise. Don't let anyone get hurt, but enough to cause some panic." He didn't waste time to check if she understood, hurrying forward to meet up with his friends.

Falling in line beside him, Sollux leaned over to whisper to him. "What the fuck is going on?" His hands were reaching for the ecto-gun he was able to sneak in, Aradia mirroring him. Karkat already knew they'd probably fail to scratch Skulker, especially with their capacity. Still, extra cover was extra cover.

"I saw Skulker looking at the gorillas and he spotted me." He could see the tense look on Aradia's face turn into a scowl. "I'm having Nepeta cause a distraction so we can slip on out and maybe take him down. I'll use my powers to make sure we're not seen."

"What if he overpowers us?" Aradia's hand twitched eagerly to reach her ecto-gun. She wanted to get that bastard back for trying to cut open one of her friends, but she was trying to be realistic. "This isn't exactly an elderly lunch lady we're talking about here."

"We'll figure it out if something happens." Karkat didn't actually have a plan for that, but he wanted to simply get this done. He'd make sure Skulker focused on him and Nepeta for the entire fight, but he was hoping that he could just suck him up in the thermos.

It wouldn't go like that, though. If it was that simple, then this would've all ended last night.

They made it inside with minimal effort. Karkat didn't sense Skulker yet, which only meant that he was taking his time. Lancer was still prattling on about what they could expect when a loud thump came from the back room, startling everyone. Before anyone could dare ask what was going on, everyone started to hear a loud popping as the lights suddenly went out.

Karkat grabbed Aradia and Sollux, turning invisible and flying them out of there as everyone screamed and started to run. No one saw or heard them leave as he took them to an area that was made to look like a bamboo forest. He put them down softly.

"I'm not going to say that flying isn't fun and all," Aradia started, trying to get her footing. "But it's also terrifying as all hell."

"Welcome to my life." Karkat turned into Phantom, floating above them. "I'm more worried about what the hell Nepeta did back there?"

As if right on cue, the ghost slipped in nearby. "I found some firecrackers and figured that I would scare some people off. The humans are scattered around everywhere, so I bought you some time. Have you seen Skulker anywhere?"

"No," Karkat said, while a small, steady stream of smoke started filter out of his mask. "But I have a feeling that he's going to show up soon."

It was a tense moment as the four looked around themselves, adrenaline beginning to spike. Aradia and Sollux had their guns ready, fingers on the trigger, while Karkat and Nepeta floated overhead. Nepeta's claws were out while Karkat held on to his own ecto-gun at his side.

Eventually, the sound of thrusters broke the silence, everyone turning towards it. Skulker lurked between some branches, phasing through them with barely any effort. He glared down at all of them, soon to be replaced by amusement as he looked over Karkat and Nepeta

"Well, it seems like you two decided come looking for me. I'm touched." His eyes ran over Aradia and Sollux, quirking and eyebrow. "And you brought friends too. Interesting choice. I suppose you would have some of those around here, whelp."

"I'd suggest cutting and running, Skulker. You could've just left with the animals and everything would've been fine." Karkat really didn't want to do this, but he did have back up this time. "Either that, or we send you back to the Ghost Zone in pieces."

"An interesting proposal, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline." One of his arms flicked open, the blade he used on him last night flashing out. "I _was_ only out there to capture those before they got out, but I think I've found a much bigger prize."

Karkat could already hear his friends power their ecto-guns while he turned his on as well. "I'm guessing there's no way to change your mind?"

"Nothing is stopping me from making sure _your_ pelt is on _my_ wall." Skulker's other arm opened up to show guns of his own, which started to power up.

The teen let out a sigh, before narrowing his red eyes dangerously at the robot ghost. "Fine. Pieces it is."

Karkat was once again the first to fire, pulling the trigger faster than he could think. It was joined by a few volleys sent by Aradia and Sollux, who kept firing as the robot ghost dodged and weaved around the shots. Some came close, grazing the metal, but none were hitting him just yet.

Nepeta shot to the side, moving from trunk to trunk of bamboo in a flash before getting behind him and taking a swipe at the rockets on his back. Skulker did dodge it and attempted to slice Nepeta, but the shift in his focus caused a few shots to hit him on his legs and shoulders. He went back to dodging as soon as possible.

Karkat noticed the exchange and decided to switch tactics. Putting the ecto-gun back on his belt, he flew around above Skulker and nosedived, punching the robot with as much force he could muster. Flying back, Skulker was then kicked by Nepeta, receiving shots all over his body thanks to the two humans below.

The robot ghost growled, righting himself. The armor he was wearing was starting show visible damage, only growing as he started to get off balance thanks to Karkat and Nepeta. The two humans were not practiced shots, but anyone can hit a still target if they fire at it enough. He had to change tactics

He started to fire back at the humans, attempting to stop them from firing. This caused a reprieve from the shots as two ungracefully dodged, scrambling to get themselves upright. Skulker started to focus fire on Karkat, landing a shot to his side, but nothing else. Nepeta dodged a side swipe from his sword arm.

It was another volley of shots from the humans that set him off balance this time, causing him to take a swift move to the side. Nepeta took advantage of the distraction, leaping at him and embedding one her claws into him. She pulled, her claws deep in his exoskeleton as she wrenched it free, leaving a deep gash as he leaped backward to avoid being decapitated by his sword.

Skulker growled, floating away from the group. He assessed the damage briefly, sending another random volley of shots to the humans. He looked up at the two ghosts with a glare.

"You do realize it's very bad taste to gang-up on one ghost, correct?" While Nepeta's attack was the one that left the most visible damage, it didn't stop Skulker from taunting them.

"That's real rich coming from you." Nepeta spat in his direction, tense and ready for him to make the next move.

Karkat floated beside her, red eyes glowing as he stared down at him. He nursed the place where he was shot tenderly, the flow of ectoplasm being relatively slow. "And considering you want to skin me; I don't think fairness should fucking matter here." He upped the intensity on his ecto-gun to make sure the next shots hit harder.

Skulker frowned before taking a look at two other ghosts before him. He smiled deviously before firing himself at them with a high amount of force. "Then let me correct this error."

He grabbed the two of them, steering them away from the battlefield as his suit's thrusters boosted. The ghost could hear shouts and some more fire coming from the humans, but they never landed as he continued to go upward to the left.

Karkat cursed, banging on the armor ineffectually before looking down. Noting the thrusters on his feet, he aimed his gun and fired at one of them, hitting them with a loud bang. Skulker's flight was instantly disrupted, causing him to lose control as they took a sharp turn right.

What became a rocket-powered flight became a rocket-powered free fall as they started to head directly into the gorilla pen, falling towards it at high speeds. Nepeta and Karkat were able to slip out of his hold with some effort, floating as the robot hit the ground hard.

"I'll get close," Nepeta started, keeping an eye out for everything inside the pen. "I'd suggest staying back. Your punches aren't doing shit."

"No argument there." Karkat looked at the ghosts wounded foot and upped the intensity on his gun even more. "Hope you're right when you said he could be cut up."

"It's not like I'll give you the chance." Skulker switched out the sword to a saw blade, whirring in place. The gorilla's, thankfully, had evacuated the area.

Nepeta leaped to the side as Karkat opened fire once more, not even attempting to hold back from hitting the robot ghost. Only a couple hit, but due to the upped intensity, they caused a lot more damage.

Skulker lunged at the catgirl ghost when she came close, which she leapt over. Landing behind him, she sliced at his back with a growl, before moving to the side when he attempted to whirl around. A shot from Karkat hit his blade arm dead on.

Karkat made sure to keep moving, shots from Skulker missing him barely. He was doing his best to not leave evidence, to only take shots when he could. Nepeta was too close to the robot ghost, making him more wary.

The melee was getting intense as Nepeta dodged every attack Skulker sent her way, doing her best to give her own. Despite the robotic elements on his person, she was much faster. She was able to keep hitting him, slicing into his person.

Skulker let out a yell, shooting up his gun arm to fire at Karkat. The laser hit the gun in Karkat's hand, knocking it away from his hand. He turned his full attention to Nepeta, firing and attempting to slice her with all of his anger. She was able to land a final blow on his leg, damaging it and causing him to limp.

Karkat felt his hand burn at the feeling of the laser hitting his skin, but didn't think as he jumped in, attempting to land one final kick.

It seemed to be exactly what Skulker was waiting for, as he suddenly grabbed Karkat with his gun arm, throwing him against the wall of the enclosure. He swiped at him with the saw blade arm as well, embedding the metal into his skin before he flew the rest of the way into the stone wall.

Before Karkat could even process the pain, Skulker had all of his guns to his face and keeping Nepeta away at a distance with his melee arm. The three of them huffed, out of breath, even if it looked absolutely strange on a ghost like Skulker.

"Well," Said ghost started between breaths. "It seems that we're at quite the impasse here. A real Mexican standoff."

"Are you really using this time to gloat?" Karkat was in agony as he felt ectoplasm bleed out of him slowly, burning at his skin. He still wanted to make his possible last words sarcastic if he could. "It really doesn't make your dick any bigger. Attacking teenagers shouldn't be the main focus of your time."

"Says the whelp that can apparently turn alive at the drop of a hat." The guns charged up as Skulker said this. He sent his gaze over to Nepeta, who hadn't moved an inch. "And since both of you were able to put up a decent fight, even without backup. I'd say that made this a very good hunting story."

"What makes you think you're even getting out of here without me clawing you double death?" Nepeta turned her heel into the ground. Her own injuries were small in number but taking a toll on her as well.

Skulker rolled his pupil-less eyes and looked at her sardonically. "Injuries aside, I believe I'm the most fit one here. And with you barely able to stand and your friend at the business end of a gun, I do believe that I-"

Before he could finish gloating, a sudden being smashed into the robot with enough force knock it backward. Revealed to be one of the gorilla's in the enclosure, it began to wail on him with wild abandon.

Despite the shock of the situation causing them to freeze, Nepeta made sure the other one hadn't come to check on them as well and went over to Karkat. She brought out the flask again, handing it off for him to drink.

"Thanks." He said desperately, putting it to his lips and drinking half of what was left. He handed it back to her so she could get her fill. He looked over at the beatdown happening near them, getting to his feet slowly. "You think we should help him?"

"Nah." Nepeta didn't even bother concealing the tiredness in her voice, watching it with a quirked eyebrow. "Poetic justice. Besides, we try and fuck with that gorilla and it'll decide we're it's next targets."

"True."

They both went invisible and waited until the gorilla was done. They watched it lumber off, not detecting them at all. Floating over, they couldn't help wince at everything that remained.

Various limbs were strewn about and, twitching after they had been torn off by the gorilla in its rage, useless and pitiful. The main body was severely dented beyond repair, its craftsmanship ruined, and the finish stained.

Not far away, Skulker's head laid on the ground, rocking back and forth as something in it kept moving, a high voice cursing. A tiny, green blob started crawling out, looking around itself with a scowl before catching eyes with the two of them.

Karkat looked at it for about five seconds before bursting out laughing.

"H-Holy shit!" He almost started to cough as he looked over at the scowling blob, folding into himself. "You really are trying to feel bigger. It's not just-" He got onto his knees, laughing even harder as he hit the ground several times. It was possible that the feeling of surviving another deadly encounter was contributing to the hilarity of the situation, but Karkat didn't care. He needed a good laugh after this.

"I told you his obsession was overcompensation." Nepeta strolled over and picked him up, her smile smug and containing fangs. "Now, Skulky, I think you owe me and my friend here an apology. I could hand you off to the gorillas to play with, or I could just _eat_ you, so I wouldn't get uppity."

"Don't you dare, you anthropomorphic pup!" The squeaky voice coming from Skulker only encouraged him to laugh even harder. "I _will_ come back with an even more powerful suit! You think this is the last of me?! You haven't heard the end of Skulker, the Infinite Realms Greatest Hu-"

Karkat flipped open the thermos and sucked the thing inside, still chuckling to himself. He clapped the lid back on to the thing and looked at the wreckage of Skulker's suit lying around. "We really fucked this place up, haven't we?"

"Not more than it already was." Nepeta kicked at the ruined head, laughing herself. She sighed and started to grab all of the armor pieces. "I'll pick up all of this and take it back into the Ghost Zone for you guys. I'll need you to open the door later, but I think this might be the best time to go our own ways."

The ghostly teen frowned at that but couldn't help but nod in agreement. His dad would either be informed about this incident or he was already on his way after being notified by the ecto-detector. It would be bad if he came around here and found Nepeta carrying a bunch of ghost tech.

"You plan on coming back to the human world anytime soon?" He felt himself say, hoping she'd say yes. She'd been a valuable resource for information so far and he doubted he would have beaten Skulker alone without drawing it out for a few more fights.

"Maybe. Won't be for a long time though, after my mom figures out what I've been doing the past few days. She's going to throw a _hissing_ fit when she sees all of this." She lifted up the armor and shook it to emphasize her point. She got a concerned look on her face, looking him over. "Are you going to be okay? I mean, does your dad know about…" She trailed off, not having to finish her sentence.

Karkat paused, shaking his head softly. "He doesn't. This happened only a couple of weeks ago." He didn't like the look of concern, but he understood why she did. He didn't know what would happen either if his dad figured out about this shit.

Nepeta nodded wordlessly, floating upwards and giving him a smile. "Hopefully next time we talk, it won't be when you're in trouble." She let out a free hand and threw Skulker's mangled at him before waving. "See ya'!"

He waved goodbye to her too before looking down at the robot head in his hands. He moved it around before floating upwards, and out of the gorilla enclosure.

* * *

It was when he got home that Karkat felt the adrenaline leak out of him all at once, leaving him absolutely exhausted. It wasn't as bad as the time he went after the Lunch Lady, but it certainly caused his bones to ache.

He was able to get out of the zoo just fine after finding his friends, explaining what happened. They wanted to check him for injuries, but he they didn't have time before Mr. Lancer had found them and got them back with the other students. The rest of the trip had been cancelled due to power outage and signs of fires in the bamboo forest, most likely a result from fighting Skulker.

His dad had been outside the zoo gates and took him and his friends' home, where Karkat was able to send Skulker back in and let Nepeta through. They hadn't exchanged too many words for the sake of keeping her from being found out.

Karkat still had work to do, though, and transcribed everything that happened and everything he learned in an old notebook he hadn't been using. Skulker's head, that he couldn't help but keep as a trophy, had been phased into one of the walls for safekeeping. He added pictures of it into the notebook for safekeeping.

He learned a lot today about what exactly he signed up for, he realized, finishing up the notes. Looking down, he couldn't help but think over that somebody had wanted him truly dead. They weren't freaking out over something, it wasn't a misunderstanding, they wanted him dead because of what he was now.

Just what was he, really?

He sighed and closed the notebook, figuring that he'd write more later. Guess he was becoming a ghost scientist after all, despite how he would've rejected the thought a couple of weeks ago.

This reminded him; he needed new weapons. The ecto-gun he had been working with was still fine, but it hadn't been enough during the fight. If there were more ghosts like Skulker out there, he would need something a little more painful on his side to help keep them off. Maybe something a little closer in range.

Karkat moved to the weapons vault, inputting the code and opening it as quietly as he could. While his dad had made plenty of ecto-guns over the years, there were plenty of melee weapons that were laced in ectoplasm, made specifically for ghosts. Spades apparently knew how to deal with knives better, for reasons he never explained to Karkat despite years of begging.

None of them interested him at first, especially since a large range of them wouldn't be easy to hide. There were some knives, some small enough to fit in a pocket somewhere, but he also wanted something distinct. He took one off the rack that he believed his dad wouldn't miss anyway, as a backup.

Eventually his attention was caught up by a pair of sharp weapons in the corner. He couldn't help but move over to them, mind blank as he picked them up and moved them in his hands silently.

A pair of sickles, glowing a bright green and weighing little in his hands, felt right for reason he couldn't explain.

* * *

Skulker wasn't taking the defeat well if he was being honest. Taken down by four teenagers, two of them not even being ghosts, put a large dent in his pride.

It didn't help that he had to hide and cower while flying throughout the Infinite Realms to reach his lair. He had to make sure to commission a new suit as soon as he physically could. Especially before he was asked to do any upcoming jobs.

He flew to the old remains of a suit, doing his best to access a communicator. He cursed himself for not keeping one of the full ones on standby, but that was his fault. He still needed to make this call.

Pressing in the numbers to reach his benefactor, he watched as the screen lit up slowly, until it eventually revealed the subject of his call.

"Skulker," The voice said smoothly, sending a chill up his spine. "It's not very common that I get to hear from you in this form. And through one of your old suits?"

"I ran into some trouble in Amity Park." Better admit to it now and hope it doesn't bite him in the ass later. He could see visible dissatisfaction come from him, which irked him. However, despite the fear, he couldn't help but grin. "However, I believe I have some information that will be of _great _interest to you."

"Do tell." The voice lilted, thus starting what would be a _very_ interesting conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should've done more cat puns, but I haven't reached that level yet were I can make all of those. I think I got a few good ones in there, but not enough to reach Nepeta levels of cat pun. I think I got her level of sass right.
> 
> Yeah, Karkat isn't that strong just yet, but he's learning. Becoming a scientist on some level with all he's learning through my attempts at world-building. Also upgrading his arsenal. It's all going to go downhill from here, especially with other things coming into play. And I don't plan to give him a moment of respite.


	10. Killer Garage Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Glad to see you're still reading this and I hope you're enjoying yourselves. It's been a good week for writing so far and I hope this chapter is up to par!
> 
> You've probably noticed by now that some of the episodes or plots from the show are being switched around or combined in some way, which is on purpose. While I'm keeping the narrative loose, I am manipulating it so certain beats I want to fulfill are there. If any of you like, I can upload the file of the current "schedule" for episodes I have. I might not just so you guys can be surprised, but you can give me your opinion first if you do want to know.
> 
> Either way, enjoy the chapter and I hope to hear from you all soon!

The ticking of the clock was starting to get annoying in Karkat's opinion. He could honestly say that he never visited the counselor's office before, but it was quickly becoming his least favorite place.

The smell of hand sanitizer, the old self-help magazines piled up on a side table, and the absolute chill in the air made things nigh unbearable. He'd never really been here before, but he wondered if it was always like this before new management came along.

He almost welcomed the sound of the door opening behind him if it wasn't for the fact that meant he'd have to start talking.

"Ah, it looks like you're already here." A pleasant-sounding female voice said. He felt a chill go down his spine as she passed, a surprising amount of blue entering his vision.

Karkat looked over the new counselor, surprised to see such a young face in the position. Blonde hair that hung down as far her shoulders, a blue, long-sleeved dress that resembled a librarian's ensemble, red heels, and black pointed glasses accentuated her looks. She looked pretty professional for someone that couldn't have been much older than Sollux's brother.

"I suppose introductions are in order." The woman made a move to seat herself in the chair behind the desk, a demure smile on her face. "I am Aranea Serket. I've been asked to counsel you and your fellow students. Do you have an idea why?"

"No idea. Can't be the fact that we had the school almost blow up and somebody nearly set fire to the zoo while on a field trip. I can't imagine that would make some people concerned _at all_." Karkat didn't exactly know why he was being sarcastic right now, but he couldn't help himself.

Aranea sighed, opening up a file that she put on her desk. "I suppose I set myself up for that one." She looked over some details on the file, reading some of them allowed. "Karkat Vantas, son of Spades Slick. About seventeen years-old, no criminal history, and generally a good student."

"They also count how many times I swear a day in that thing?" Karkat raised an eyebrow. Already looking through his personal records. That's not alarming at all.

"Other than saying 'a lot,' it doesn't say much on that." Aranea closed the file, folding her hands in front of herself. "However, I'd like to hear more about yourself first, primarily from your own mouth."

Karkat shrugged, looking away from her for the briefest second. "Not much to say, honestly. I'm not exactly the most interesting guy in town, if you're wondering."

"I suppose that title would go to your father, correct?" Karkat narrowed his eyes at that, watching as Aranea reopened the file. "It seems like he has quite the reputation around here. Most of it the infamous variety, considering how as a scientist, his experiments often go wrong."

Karkat sighed, rolling his eyes at this. "Of course." He whispered. He felt the urge to put his feet on the table but decided not to. "It's not my fault dad's experiments go wrong all the time."

"I wasn't implying it was." She leaned back in her chair, looking him over. "However, consider me curious. What exactly does he study?"

"Ghosts." He wasn't surprised to see her gain a weird look. Karkat preemptively decided to interrupt her before she could ask anything. "Yeah, I know, weird thing to study. I've heard it all before. He's not exactly considered the sanest guy in the world, but he's pretty smart despite that."

"I can't say that's the most traditional field of science I've ever heard of." The weird look on her face subsided. "I suppose the fact that he's involved such a strange field, along with some reported incidents has made you accustomed to strange happenings."

"You could say that." The crimson-eyed teen was already remembering some of Spades more dangerous experiments. "You kind of get used to explosions at an early age, to be honest. Dad usually has it handled, so it stops being a big deal."

"While I can't relate to that, I do suppose you're the one with experience here." She tapped her fingers on the desk. "Though, I can't imagine that his field of study is something that many people respect."

"No shit." Karkat rolled his eyes. "He's got some government grants and all, but it isn't exactly considered anything but fringe science. He's got plenty of things to work, though."

"Nothing public from what I here." A glance to her computer must've confirmed that, most likely showing several articles about him. "I can imagine that this didn't exactly bring many friends your way."

"I've got a couple. They're assholes, but they got my back and everything." He wasn't sure he liked where this conversation was going. "Shouldn't we be talking about those 'traumatic events' that brought me here?"

"It's important to determine how well of a support system you have. If you don't, events like this could have a much more negative effect when dealing with them alone." It sounded like a good argument on her part, he supposed. He still didn't like it though. "It's nice to hear that you have your own. Though, I've dealt with the children of scientists before, and their experiences can vary."

"And?" Karkat raised an eyebrow.

"Does _he_ provide enough support in your case?" Aranea tilted her head to the side. "I looked and haven't heard of a second parent within your household. While there's nothing wrong with having a single parent household, there are some inconvenient truths that there are difficulties in the matter of balancing work and home."

"He's provided a good environment if that's what you're asking. Food, clothes, all that shit." It was a stigma he was familiar with, and also not particularly fond of. "If you looked into it well enough, you'd know that I'm adopted. He wouldn't adopt a kid he couldn't take care of."

Aranea shrugged, blue eyes crinkling. "That doesn't mean it doesn't come with its own problems. I can't assume that he's always cognizant when it comes to paying attention to your activities. He can't keep track of you all the time."

That… was hard to argue. His dad did his best to be supportive, but he also did have his blind spots. Staying up at night to work on inventions, being nonchalant about his stranger activities, and sometimes just being blind about certain things. He wasn't a bad parent or anything but did have the occasional blind spot. There was also the fact he just kept getting away with sneaking out since the accident.

Karkat realized he was taking too long to answer. He piped up before her face could go from curiosity to concern. "He'll forget the occasional thing. He sure as hell isn't negligent, though."

"I wasn't making any accusations." She raised her hands up defensively. She took a quick look at the clock and frowned. "Unfortunately, it appears we'll have to continue this conversation later. It appears we're out of time for today."

"Thank god." Karkat grabbed his backpack as he began to move out, grumbling to himself. "I actually can't wait to get back to Lancer's class." He grabbed the doorknob and started to pull it open.

"Wait."

Karkat stopped, giving the woman behind him a tired look. He didn't say anything, allowing her to continue.

"These sessions are meant to help you." Her tone would be almost mistaken for pleading in some way, as careful as it sounded. "I would like it if we could continue to talk in the future, with your cooperation."

Karkat stayed quiet a moment before opening the door. "I'll think about it."

He walked out and closed the door behind him without looking back.

* * *

"So," Sollux started, taking the walk to Karkat's home at a steady pace. "Anyone else meet the new counselor? Surprised they even hired one even after all the bullshit that's been happening these past couple of weeks."

"Yeah, got called in by her earlier. She's really got the 'young librarian' look down, you got to admit." Aradia hummed. "I can already hear all the things the guys in my classes are going to say about her."

"I don't really care. Had a talk with her earlier too and I'm not sure if we can trust her." Karkat grumbled, kicking at a pebble. "Asks way too many questions."

"Isn't that her entire job, KK?" Sollux shrugged, giving his friend a funny look. "She wouldn't be a good counselor if she didn't do that."

"It's dangerous as hell to talk to her, though." Karkat moved forward, turning and walking backwards to face them. "She starts asking too many and we can forget keeping the whole ghost thing a secret. I don't think I'll go to her again."

"I wouldn't throw her out that easy, Karkat. Maybe it'd be nice to talk to her occasionally since we're doing a lot lately. Especially since more ghosts seem to be appearing." Aradia didn't look him in the eyes as she said this. "You've been pretty stressed lately and I think it would be worth a shot."

She was right, at least in some ways. The number of ghosts after that Skulker incident took a noticeable uptick lately and it was taking them a little longer to capture them. Either that damn robot was good at corralling them or they somehow noticed that the portal was open at times. It was actually beginning to become a problem with how many animal ghosts seem to swarm in certain areas.

Not to mention the training they were trying to do.

Karkat may have loved the sickles, but they were surprisingly difficult to master. They weren't like knives, with the simple stab and twist motion, with more of a slashing motion needed. Though, he did need a close-range method and they were perfect for the role. YouTube tutorials were a blessing, no matter how few there were.

He was able to convince Aradia to pick out a weapon of her own, which was a whip. While the basic mechanism for it was simple, there was definitely some work to be done. She clearly picked up what she knew from her Indiana Jones movies, but it was still a boost compared to Karkat, who only had basic training with his weaponry.

Sollux didn't opt to use a melee weapon of any kind. He decided to go all in with ranged weaponry, especially with his handgun. However, he did pick up the pieces of a different kind of ray, one that would let out a concentrated burst resembling a water cannon. He could assemble it if he wanted to, though it only had a few charges.

There were some upgrades they were thinking of making, though they'd need some actual help to do that. Sollux could tinker, but he was no weapons expert.

"I'm not going to stop you guys if you want to visit her, but I think I'll pass." Karkat turned around, face set before noticing something. "What the hell's going on at my house?"

The outside of Karkat's house was livelier than usual, and for a brief moment, he thought that his dad started the press conference earlier than expected. They still hadn't made any progress closing it and the date was coming closer and closer.

To his relief, he noticed some tables with items placed on them. It was just a garage sale.

"Hey, dad?" Karkat walked up to his father, who was trying to negotiate a higher price with some random schmuck. "Something going on?"

"Not much." Spades begrudgingly ended the transaction, waving the customer off. "I'm still trying to get some money for the levitation tech. I think I got a good idea about how to get it off the ground, but I'm running low on government grants. I'd use the patent money, but that keeps the bills paid."

"Okay." It wasn't the strangest thing, honestly. His dad did garage sales before, and it usually went into the funds for his experiments. "Anything of mine you want me to sell?"

"Only what you want to get rid of." Spades shifted a box into his arms, moving it to another table. "I didn't take anything that was yours, so feel free to go through it. I'll probably do this again tomorrow, but I think I'll have plenty of money soon enough. Labs open if you need to study too."

"Thanks." Karkat moved on past, patting his dad on the back as he went. "Love ya' or whatever."

"You too, ya' little brat." Spades opened the box and started sifting through it.

The other two followed behind closely, saying their own greetings to the patriarch of the family. When they were out of sight, Spades rubbed the shoulder Karkat had patted him on.

"Jesus, is that kid working out or something?" He mumbled to himself. The thought instantly left his mind as another customer walked up to him, carrying another item.

* * *

"If I'd known you dad was doing famous garage sales, I would have begged my mom for some cash." Aradia plopped herself down into a chair. "Then again, he probably already sold all the cool stuff."

"Last I checked, he wasn't allowed to sell his weapons anymore after that one time with the cops." Sollux flipped open his small ecto-gun, getting the tools to fiddle with it. "Which can sum up a lot of things with Spades, honestly."

"Story of fucking life." Karkat moved to the portal. He had some ghosts to drop off, opening it quickly. "Now let's just have one day without some bullshit happening."

Of course, saying stuff like that always insured that something bad would happen.

As soon as the drop off was finished, the surface of the portal was disturbed, causing Karkat to jump. As smoke started to sift out of his mouth, he took a step back and pulled out his ecto-gun. He heard the whir of his friend's guns behind him, causing his anxiety to slow.

It started with a gloved hand tentatively moving outward, almost hesitant. An arm followed it slowly, followed by a boot and leg. Both materials were made of leather, joined by a gray colored shirt and pants. More of the body revealed a leather vest with gold buttons, making it appear like a blacksmiths outfit. It was completed as the head of the being made it out, wearing a pair of leather goggles with black glass painting it.

It was a quiet few moment as the four figures stood there in silence in their standoff, the being looked at the three of them, purple skin and black hair in a ponytail. He could almost be considered several years older than they are, at about college age. It almost looked like he was studying them clinically.

He then raised a hand and talked with a disarmingly friendly voice and broken toothed smile. "Hello."

The three couldn't help but feel awkward as they still held their guns up, if haltingly now. Karkat eventually put down his gun first and put up his own hand. "Hi?" He said, confusion etched onto his face.

"Good, you didn't decide to shoot me." The guy seemingly relaxed, floating closer to the floor. "I was hoping that would not be the case. I'm terribly sorry for the entrance, I wasn't sure when your portal would open."

"Fair." It really wasn't, but the teen didn't exactly know how to respond to _any_ of this. "Mind explaining why you wanted out?"

"Oh, right. I actually heard about this from a friend. I believe you met Nepeta Leijon not that long ago." The ghost moved towards one of his father's inventions that were on display, studying it closely. "Something involving Skulker?"

Everyone in the room relaxed at the familiar name. If this guy knew her, then he most likely wasn't a threat to them at this time, though they did make sure to keep their wits about them. Though, this could be the best opportunity they had to have an actual ghostly ally.

While they did consider Nepeta as "friendly," they weren't entirely sure if they could count her as an ally just yet. Unless they got to know her better or she became more readily available, they could only consider her a tentative acquaintance at best. Hopefully they'd get to talk to her later if she was available to make things more official.

"How's she doing? She said that she was missing from home for a while and we haven't heard from here since." Aradia put her weapon away, eyeing the guy. She figured that he was harmless for the most part. "She wasn't reprimanded too badly, right?"

"Thankfully no. Especially since she had Skulker's body to prove what caused her delay." The ghost backed off when an invention began to beep at his presence, causing it to stop. "She relayed a very interesting story to me about you three and how she had to take him down. Oh, that reminds me!" He moved in to Karkat's personal space suddenly, extending a hand. "I've been terribly rude to you all. My name is Horus Zahhak. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"It's nice to meet you too, Zahhak." The red-eyed teen grabbed and shook his hand too, almost regretting it as he felt a fuckton of _sweat_ leak all over his fingers. Other than that, it was a pleasant handshake that only made him desperately want a towel afterwards. "You're honestly the first ghost we've met so far that wasn't under duress or trying to kill us, so I can't say that isn't welcome."

"It really is." Sollux moved over the Karkat side, receiving a wet handshake himself. "Though, uh, you mind actually explaining what you _want,_ though? There are ghost hunters around and we'd like to make sure they didn't, you know, detect you or anything."

"That would be incite plenty of trouble if some found their way to me, I suppose." Horuss tapped his finger onto his chin before tilting his head. "I'd very much like to see what kind of technology your world has to offer. It's rare for the Infinite Realms to receive an upgrade unless a significant amount of people die at once. It still takes time to replicate even if we do."

Karkat took a look at Sollux, giving him a questioning look. Captor shrugged hesitantly, but he figured that it was good enough. It wasn't the weirdest request they could get, but it was certainly a different one. They couldn't really afford to screw this up, anyway.

"That can be arranged. We'll have to come up with some ground rules though." Karkat looked at the stairs suspiciously before sending a glance back towards. "Stay near us at all times, don't touch anything that we say isn't safe, and hide when we tell you to. Remember, ghost hunters are around." He was honestly surprised that he hadn't heard his dad try and come downstairs just yet.

"Deal." Horuss started floating upwards before hesitating. "Um, should I meet up with you three somewhere? If only to avoid the ghost hunter, that is."

"There's a place called the Nasty Burger that's not that far from here. You'll know it when you see it. Meet us there and we should be there in the next fifteen minutes." Sollux was already itching for this to be over, pulling out his phone. "Make sure you aren't seen."

"Alright then. I'll see you then!" The ghost slipped into invisibility, the three giving a few moments of silence to determine whether he left the room or not. After they figured that he must've left, they all sighed and felt their bodies release the tension that had seeped into them the entire time.

"Well," Aradia slapped the table with an amused, if slightly stressed, grin. "I can't say that I was expecting to do this today. I mean, I'm glad we aren't fighting the ghost this time, but damn."

"Yeah, me neither." Karkat ruffled his hair, eyes glassy. "I'm just glad I didn't shoot first and ask questions later or something. Jesus, he just had to come out like that."

"Is anyone else here thinking that this might not be the greatest idea?" Sollux still had a bit of tension within his frame, feeling uneasy. "The guy seemed friendly and all, but I don't know if we should just let him walk around the place."

"He said he knew Nepeta, though. She was cool, so maybe he is too." Aradia didn't seem that worried in comparison. "Besides, we've got weapons if he decides that he doesn't want to be friendly. We've had to fight Skulker before, and he was a walking armory."

"Well, yeah, Nepeta was nice and all, but we knew her for a day." Sollux had his gun by his side still, messing with the safety as he looked between his friends. "Besides, what if Spades finds out there's a big ecto-signature on his little radar? That kind of puts a lot of what we've been doing at risk."

"We have the thermos that we can suck him into if my dad starts coming a little too close." Karkat waved around said instrument carefully. He seemed to be cautious about all of this as well, but he pushed forward. "Look, this is the first time we can actually talk to a ghost that wasn't either causing trouble or in trouble. Plus, we can get some information about ghosts from the guy that might give us a major advantage." The teen put the thermos away into his backpack, putting it back on as he moved towards the stairs. "Besides, he might know some cool ghost tech you can copy or something. Better than just letting him wander around too."

Sollux hated that he couldn't find the fault in his logic. Of course, he couldn't help but want to protest further anyway for the sake of posterity. "And if he becomes a threat?"

"Use the thermos." Karkat started up the stairs, not even looking back. "Let's just go before the guy changes his mind. I don't want screw this up."

"Yeah, have a little faith!" Aradia grabbed Sollux's hand and absentmindedly stroked it with her thumb. "We're starting to get good at ghost fighting anyway, so quit it with the doom and gloom."

Sollux hesitated, but eventually put the gun away with a sigh. "Fine." He started, rolling his eyes. As he walked towards the stairs with her, he pointed at his two friends with a glare. "But if this goes wrong, I reserve the right to say I told you so."

"Deal." The other two teens promised, moving out of the lab. Aradia laughed while Karkat rolled his own eyes good naturedly.

Hopefully, this would turn out to be a very good move in the future.

* * *

The trip itself had started out fairly… interesting.

They were able to meet up at the Nasty Burger fairly fast and even grab a quick meal there. Considering how often they were going out; they did need to increase their calorie intake.

Horuss thankfully also knew how to be subtle, despite his grand entrance from earlier telling them otherwise. He had hung out at the back and contacted them after one of them ordered. It almost sent Karkat off into a panic at first after he almost started breathing smoke, but it was easy to calm him down.

After leaving, they actually made it to an electronics store nearby that would provide some privacy. They were checking out one of the more updated phones on the market.

"How interesting." Horuss studied it like it was a piece of alien technology, which they guessed it was to him. Sollux made sure to jailbreak it or something so that they could actually use some of the features and introduce him to some new tech. "We still only have primitive landlines in the Infinite Realms. Some old computers are there as well, but I never thought I'd see both of them combined."

"Tech's kind of exploded within the past 30 years. Believe me, there's plenty of other stuff you won't believe." Sollux had predictably taken charge of this, seeing as how he had the most experience dealing with technology out of the three of them. Despite being hesitant, he was honestly the most eager one to start. "I don't know what ghosts have for game systems, but humans have made a lot of them in the last couple of years."

"Do tell." Horuss floated subtly behind him, listening closely. Karkat and Aradia trailed behind the other two, keeping an eye out for unwanted witnesses. Safe part of the store or not, they weren't going to take their chances.

"Surprising lack of cameras in here." Aradia's eyes trailed over the place observantly. "The owners lucky we're just smuggling a ghost in here rather than shoplifting."

"Not like smuggling in ghosts is much better." Karkat was glad they were able to get Zahhak to not float so obviously. Turns out a lot of people are willing to write it off as cosplay if they don't look to closely. "At least Sollux is relaxing about this. I was really hoping he'd do something about to help, otherwise we'd be screwed."

"I think he's just happy that he has someone to talk tech with." Aradia bumped her elbow into Karkat's arm, gesturing to the excited smile on the Captor's face. "He doesn't really have any friends outside of us, so maybe this could be a good thing."

"We don't exactly have that many friends either." Karkat rolled his eyes but did agree with the sentiment in his own way. They stayed quiet for a few moments before he started talking, this time a little more serious. "You ever imagine that we'd be doing something like this? Taking a ghost to an electronics shop?

"I didn't expect you to get superpowers or to fight a robot ghost, but here we are." The girl shrugged. She honestly didn't appear to know what to make of _any_ of this without having an aneurysm. "I think we've made the best of it, though. Considering this shouldn't have happened at all."

"Are you two still blaming yourself for the accident?" The red-eyed teen straightened up, feeling indignant. "I thought we were past all that. It happened and we're going to find a way to fix it after we get this whole portal thing under control. And I _walked_ _into_ the fucking thing."

"That doesn't really stop us from remembering your screaming." Karkat flinched at the harsh tone Aradia had. It was cold, but in a way that sounded like she was personally numbing it. "Sollux hasn't had a full night's sleep in a while, you know. I haven't been doing well either, especially since we didn't get you out of there in time."

He didn't exactly know what to say to that, so he kept bitterly silent. He knew something was going on with the two about it, especially since they volunteered most of their time trying to make sure he stayed alive, but they usually refused to talk about it at length. He honestly expected it, if he was being honest.

Sollux was a hardass with his emotions. Always had been, always will. It wasn't like he was cold and emotionless, but he certainly didn't talk about them enough in way that was healthy. Hell, it took about a month of needling to get him to admit that he missed his brother after he went off to college and even more to get him to talk about it at length. This was about ten times worse.

And Aradia… god, she dealt with enough shit back when they were thirteen. She lost her real mom about that time and a chunk of her died with her. It was actually why she started to hang out with the goth kids early on, trying to find something to fill the hole. They almost didn't recognize her for a while until they were finally able to get her to stop acting like she was a ghost herself and just fucking _talk_ to them. When her dad remarried about two years later, it was the only time she showed improvement when she wasn't around them.

And then Karkat had to up and nearly die on them because of some stupid shit he pulled, causing them both to blame themselves over it.

He watched Sollux explain how a Playstation worked when he started talking again. "You're right. We're making the best of it. Let's just focus on that, okay? No blaming ourselves anymore, alright?"

Aradia let out a huff but didn't argue at all. She kept her eyes forward, not showing any emotion at all.

"…And we're pretty much not that far away from getting full on virtual reality set up. Most of it is simulators, really, but there's plenty of games out there that aren't bad." Sollux put down a headset, looking around himself. Horuss was still invested and no one was hanging around them to see the ghost. "Anything else you want to take a look at?"

"Hm," The ghost put a hand on his chin, rubbing it in thought. "I do believe that this is a good start. I'm not so sure how well this can be replicated back home, but- would you mind if I checked out one of these phones?"

"Go for it," Sollux raised an eyebrow, looking over the displays. "Just don't break any of them. None of us can afford one of these things."

Horuss only nodded and moved one of the more high-tech ones off the display, turning it on. He looked it over carefully, swiping carefully and pushing at certain apps. Eventually, his hand began to glow, slowly flowing into the phone. As it slowly began to float, he extended his fingers suddenly, causing the phone to suddenly split up into smaller parts neatly.

"Woah!" Karkat reached out his hand, almost startling Horuss. "I'm pretty sure we just said not to break it, dude."

"Sorry." He had the decency to be embarrassed but didn't put the phone back together just yet. "It's a part of my abilities. I have a certain form of technomancy that allows me to understand machines much better." He looked over each individual part, studying and almost quiet. "Nepeta was actually able to take one out of curiosity-which I apologize for since she most likely stole it- and only let me and my brother have a preliminary look."

He suddenly reconstructed it without any difficulty, snapping it together. "I actually developed an app that would allow some form of communication within the Infinite Realms, along with a battery that would sustain it. I can provide the app if you want to talk to her."

"That," Karkat blinked before deciding to move on with it. "That would be helpful, actually. You wouldn't mind, right?"

"Not at all." Horuss waved a hand, causing their phones in their pockets to glow. After a moment, the glowing stopped, with Aradia reaching hers first. She found a messaging app on her phone that had no icon, but she could only assume was the app in question. "Her handle is arsenicCatnip if you're wondering."

Clicking into it, it truly was just a message app. They were kind of surprised at the simplicity of it, but he didn't exactly say how old Ghost Zone tech was. But still, it would be amazingly useful.

Ghostian, though? Weird choice in name.

"Thanks." Karkat put it away for now. It wasn't like he needed to use it right now, but a thought did cross his mind. "You said your power works with tech, right? How far does that actually go?"

"It's hard to say, quiet honestly." Horuss rubbed the back of his neck. "I can manipulate all sorts of technology, as long as it's advanced enough. I can even shape it into something new if enough parts are supplied, maybe even meld with them. It's useful, but I haven't messed with anything outside of my world before."

"Maybe now's the time." Aradia moved her backpack up, taking another look around them. "Seems like the perfect time to test it out. Nobodies going to miss a floor model."

"Aradia, don't encourage ghosts to steal!" Karkat looked surprised by the notion. "We can't just take that shit."

"I don't see why not. That things got limited use as a floor model anyway." Sollux shifted his bag as well. "Besides, we don't have to steal it. Just use it and leave it here."

Karkat looked like he wanted to argue but figured it would be easier to bow out to the logic. "Fine. Just make sure to leave it here when you're done."

"That's an acceptable idea." Horuss looked at the floor model again, hand glowing. The phone separated his fingers again, taking it apart. This time, though, he began to manipulate the separate parts into something else, even bending the metal. As suddenly as it started, it ended when the metal suddenly strapped the ghost's wrist. Horuss paused, seemingly lost in thought as numbers started appearing in his goggles.

"Anything happening?" Karkat wasn't sure how to deal with the sudden stillness. He was just floating there, a stillness that matched his status as one of the dead. "Is everything okay?"

Silence was the only answer. Horuss floated there, numbers and images still flowing through his goggles. Other than a few small twitches, he didn't move in the slightest, with the only sound being a mumble.

"Horuss." Sollux looked like he wanted to reach out to touch him but didn't out of hesitance. "Dude, say something. You're creeping us out."

There was another stretch of silence before he started talking in a low voice. "So much… _**information."**_

Then he outright vanished from view, leaving no trace.

A few moments of silence later, Sollux sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I told you so." He said, though there was no satisfaction in his voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you all enjoyed that! Now, if you do want me to post the schedule up in another story, feel free to say so in the comments/reviews. I might save it depending on how fast I reach this one point in the story, but otherwise will post it if you want that. Make sure to say so!
> 
> Either way, I'll see you all next chapter.


	11. Info Dumping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out a little faster than usual, but I like it how it is. Hopefully it moves things along a little to make sure you guys still enjoy it. Though, as a note before we begin, I would like to say that remembering to do the typing quirks is hard to do when you have to focus on a lot of other things. At least Karkat's is easy.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter and that you have a nice day!

Karkat knew bad signs when he saw them. Sometimes they were obvious and waved red flags like they were at a football rally. Sometimes they were subtle, flying under most people's radar.

Horuss disappearing during what should've been a friendly outing? Big fucking red flag.

"Great. First time we can actually get to a ghost without violence, and he fucking disappears." Sollux seemed the most irritated by this. He was actually enjoying the talk about tech beforehand, but he should've figured something would go wrong. "KK, can you find him with your ghost sense?"

"I've got nothing." Karkat would've tracked him down the moment he vanished. "I don't know if Horuss is going to do anything, but I doubt he's nearby. Just what the hell happened back there?"

"We got to do it fast. I don't know how long your dad won't notice him, but he'll find his ecto-signature eventually." Aradia moved from one foot to the other nervously, looking around. She stopped and brought out her phone. "He gave us the chat app, right? Nepeta's on there, right?"

Karkat stopped and pulled his own phone out. "Right! The username is arsenicCatnip, I think." He punched it in Ghostian, finding the name fairly easily. However, he couldn't message him until he made an actual account. "Shit. We'll have to make an account or something. Give me a second."

All of them picked out their own phones to make their own accounts. It didn't take long, though they may have spent more time on making their accounts than they should've. However, after finally getting in, one of them sent a message.

CG: Leijon? We need to talk.

TA: Please pick up.

AA: Are you there?

They waited a for about ten seconds, silence reigning over them as they waited for an answer. Before they were about to give up and find another avenue of thought, a _ding_ came from their cell's.

AC: :33 new phone, who dis?

They all sighed in collective relief and irritation. Karkat already started typing up his reply, rolling his eyes.

CG: It's Phantom and company. We kinda need your help on something.

AC: :33 seriously? how did you get this chat id? or the app?

TA: We met Horuss. Nice guy for the most part, until he vanished on us.

There were a few seconds where she didn't respond, but she sent a couple in a sequence afterward.

AC: :33 oh.

AC: :33 oh shit.

AC: :33 i should've known he'd do that. he got so curious about the human world when i mentioned it. is he okay?

AA: We don't know. We tried to introduce him to some local tech and he just vanished after trying to connect to the internet.

CG: Other than that, we don't know. Said something about "information" and left.

AC: :33 ok, ok, good start. furrst question. what's an internet?

They all collectively groaned at the cat pun and the question.

TA: In simple terms, it's a huge repository of information where people could put anything on there. A pretty big place, honestly.

AC: :33 huge. great, that's not good at all.

AC: :33 from what my mom told me; ghosts can get pretty overwhelmed when dealing with their obsession. especially if they make it outside of the Infinite Realms.

AC: :33 his is learning all about technology, which tracks with the others. he connected to this "internet," he must've overloaded his obsession.

CG: Anyway, we can knock him out of it? Preferably without hurting him?

AC: :33 probably. he might listen to reason, but i you might have to take him down before he does anything too rash. he doesn't have his meowrail with him, so he could get violent without my sister to calm him down.

The trio looked at each other with apprehension, feeling themselves tense up. They weren't exactly happy to do that since Horuss, despite being a little bit weird, wasn't a bad guy. But they couldn't let him run free either if he _could _become a major problem.

AA: So, we can't do anything except fight him. Great. Really hoped that we wouldn't have to hurt anybody.

AC: :33 sorry about that. i'd have some better suggestions, but i'm grounded until further notice. having skulker's body as a trophy is cool and all, but that didn't get me out of trouble.

TA: Parents, right?

CG: For fuck's sake, everyone focus. Nepeta, you said your sister could calm him down, right? Something about being his "meowrail or something?"

AC: :33 moirail. sorry, i was doing a cat pun thing. you know, moiral, meowrail?

CG: I'm dying all over again. Please, you're killing me.

AC: :33 fair enough. It's related to a thing called "quadrants." it'd take forever to explain, but for now, a moiral is like, platonic soulmates. the person that can take you from the brink of insanity, specifically if a ghost's obsession gets out of control.

AC: :33 my sister is Horuss's moiral. if you distract him long enough, Muelin can eventually make it there. i don't know what else to tell you.

Karkat looked away from the screen and pinched the bridge of his nose. God, this wasn't really ideal, but at least they had a semblance of a plan. Worst comes to worse, they store Horuss in the thermos until Muelin comes in to save the day. They'd just have to avoid hurting him as much as they could until then. Hopefully.

He typed in another question.

CG: It's a good enough plan. Not like we have any other ideas.

CG: Just one more question, though.

CG: What powers does he have/?

AC: :33 he controls all types of technology.

…Fuck.

* * *

They'd spent the rest of the day patrolling, eternally glad for the fact that it was a Friday. They essentially combed over what they could of the town, checking online for anything weird posted on social media websites, and even breaking out an old police radio Spades had hidden away. There was no indication that Horuss had appeared anywhere, even after grabbing the ecto-detector from Karkat's home.

They made it a point to only split up when they thought it was needed, and never far away enough so they couldn't find each other again. The Skulker incident had set everyone on edge.

Since the search was had been fruitless so far, they'd been messaging Nepeta to occupy themselves. It mostly varied, drifting between inane nonsense to something informative from moment to moment.

One of them involved giving "typing quirks" to themselves, along with typing colors.

CG: I STILL DON'T SEE THE NECESSITY OF DOING THIS. SHOULDN'T OUR NAMES AND COLORS BE ENOUGH?

AA: i think this fun

AA: at least we ch0se better typing quirks than making 0urs capsl0ck

TA: ii kiind of liike iit. iit'2 pretty fiitiing con2siidering who we're talkiing 2.

CG: AT LEAST ONE OF YOU RECOGNIZES MY GENIUS. PLUS, MINE IS AT LEAST EASY TO READ.

CG: AND EXPLAINABLE. WHAT EXACTLY IS UP WITH YOURS, NEPETA.

AC: :33 it looks like a cat.

CG: I'M NOT SURE WHAT ELSE I WAS EXPECTING.

CG: I GUESS IF I HAD TO SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT IT, IT'S DISTINCTIVE. GOD FORBID IF ANYONE ELSE JOINS IN ON THIS, THOUGH.

CG: I CAN'T IMAGINE WHATEVER CRAZY SHIT THEY'D HAVE TO TYPE TO STAND OUT.

TA: amen 2 that. by the way, ha2 anyone 2een Horu22 yet? ii've got nothiing on my end.

AA: i haven't heard anything either

AA: what ab0ut you, karkat

CG: AGAIN, NOTHING. I'M STARTING TO THINK WE'RE NOT LOOKING IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

TA: you got a poiint. Maybe he ii2n't iin town after all.

AA: that d0esn't really make me feel any better ab0ut this

AC: :33 it's probably related to his obsession. if he connected himself to the internet, then maybe it's something with a strong signal.

Karkat had been flying over a small neighborhood when he got these messages. He made sure to stay invisible when he could, only switching out when he couldn't possibly be seen. It was difficult to think about how much damage Horuss could do unattended, especially since it was reaching about 9 p.m. by now.

He couldn't necessarily think about what place he could be. Tech shops were the most obvious, both high and low end. However, nothing was messing with the electronics there. Pawn shops and other similar places were also untouched.

Then again, it was less about the tech and more about his new connection to the internet. He was probably looking for a stronger signal so he could gather information faster…

They were fucking idiots. Of course, he would go for something like that.

CG: I'M ABOUT TO MAKE US ALL FEEL LIKE HUGE FUCKING IDIOTS RIGHT NOW.

CG: DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHERE WE GET OUR INTERNET FROM?

TA: our II2P? ii'm pretty 2ure that building is on the edge of town

TA: oh

AA: why we didn't we think 0f that first

AA: i think that's near the l0cal junkyard

CG: SOUNDS LIKE THE WORST PLACE HE COULD GO TO THIS SITUATION, SO IT'S MOST LIKELY CORRECT.

CG: NEPETA, DO YOU THINK YOUR SISTERS CLOSE TO THE PORTAL YET?

AC: :3 she's most likely not that far. one of you is going to have to open the portal for her.

CG: THEN I GUESS ONE OF YOU IS GOING TO HAVE TO ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS FOR TO JOIN ME. OR GO TOGETHER. I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE HOW HORUSS WILL DEAL WITH ANTI-GHOST TECH.

TA: we'll rock, paper, 2cii22or2 for iit.

AA: give us a sec0nd

It took them a few seconds, but the answer was written down not that long after.

AA: l00ks like i'm up

TA: alriight, ii'll make 2ure your dad doe2n't 2ee me. wii2h me luck.

CG: GOD SPEED, YOU LOVABLE BASTARD.

Karkat didn't exactly like the idea of bringing someone else into the fight, but he knew that it wasn't entirely possible to defeat an enemy alone. Especially since he only had a baseline knowledge about the guys powers. Of course, he also wasn't happy that they would have to fight Horuss at all.

Then again, there was no telling what would happen to Horuss if he connected to the internet as a whole. Or what he could do in his obsessed state.

Karkat just sighed and decided to deal with it, already heading to the junkyard nearby.

* * *

It didn't take Karkat and Aradia long to meet up again, and it also didn't take long for them to fly there. Their destination wasn't far, but the both of them figured out one crucial fact while making it there.

Flying when you didn't have resistance to temperatures was cold as all hell.

"How do you not freeze while you're up in the air?" Aradia was rubbing at her arms as she walked the rest of the way on foot, shivering all the while. "I know the ghost powers thing protects you or something, but you got to feel a chill or _something."_

"I don't really feel much of anything, Aradia. Kind comes with the territory." Karkat lazily floated next to her, eyes scanning the terrain. "Hell, I don't even know if fire can hurt for all I know. I mean, do breathe out smoke."

"True, but I wouldn't go testing that. Yet." Aradia's smile became threatening for a second, sending phantom shivers down Karkat's spine. "I do wonder why you breath smoke, though. Kind seems ominous, don't you think?"

"I'm just hoping that I don't start doing that shit in class. I'd rather not get a suspension for smoking." The teen righted himself from his position, floating a little higher to get a better view. "At least it kind of looks cool. I'm wondering if I can trigger that shit, you know? Someone just pisses me off and I can go like…"

As if on cue, some smoke rose out of the gas mask, making them both stop. Aradia brought out her weapons as Karkat suddenly rose higher to see where Horuss was, looking over everything with a bit of panic settling into his bones. He really hoped they weren't too late.

He did eventually spot him and much to his relief, Horuss hadn't made it to the internet providers building, meaning he wasn't already hacking into the servers or something. He _was _on the outskirts of the junkyard though, floating ominously, his body mostly still.

His appearance was unsettling to say the least. While he looked mostly the same, one of his arms was covered completely in circuitry and metal, makeshift and cobbled together from broken parts. Most likely from whatever technology he was able to find on his way here, which was hopefully not a lot. He didn't appear injured or have anything on him showing he was in a fight, but he did occasionally twitch, something that worried him.

The phone they had given him was still at his wrist, glowing brightly.

"He's not far," Karkat said, voice low as he motioned to Aradia to keep quiet. "If we can't talk him down ourselves, I'll draw his fire. Make some potshots at him if you can."

"I have been dying to test out my whip anyway." She kept her hand on it carefully. "I'm sure he'll listen as long as you're calm about this. Make sure to be patient."

"Since when am I not calm and patient?" Karkat waited a second before waving off the question. "Don't answer that. I'm heading towards him. Message the others."

He moved in, floating towards Horuss cautiously. When he was five feet away, Horuss's gaze snapped to him, blank and unmoved. Every movement Karkat was making was critically observed, something which he could feel in his bones. He really needed to snap Horuss out of this, for both their sakes.

"Hey, man." Karkat almost slapped himself for how lame that sounded but continued. "I'd apologize about not finding you earlier, but you did kind of flake on us."

It wasn't a _great_ start, but Horuss didn't appear to be offended. He didn't appear to register it, to be completely honest since his face didn't even change. He was just floating there, remaining as utterly quiet as the dead usually are.

"Not really your fault that you flaked on us, I guess. Things got a little out of hand. Probably should've taken some baby steps when introducing you to the internet." Karkat rubbed the back of his neck. "Should've taken your obsession into account. We didn't even _ask,_ for fucks sake."

Horuss was ever silent, staring at him with empty goggles.

The ghostly teen couldn't help but feel a little frustrated by the lack of response. "C'mon, man, at least threaten me or something if you're gonna stand there like that. I don't want to fight, but I'd like some kind of reaction."

Horuss twitched at that. _**"Move aside."**_ He said it mechanically. No emotion.

"Not the reaction I was hoping for, but fine." Karkat muttered to himself. He straightened up, attempting to be imposing. "I can't do that, Horuss. You're not yourself right now. I need to ask you to stop before you hurt yourself or others."

The other ghost wasn't moved. _**"Negatory. I will have access to the information of this world. It is not optional. Move aside."**_

"Look man," The teen didn't raise his voice, though it did become firm. He could already feel the urge to grab his weapons, but he suppressed it. Horuss was nice and it pained him to do this. "You can't do this. I don't want to fight you, but you're not moving another inch until we can snap you out of this. Do you understand?"

There was a brief moment of silence as Horuss digested this information.

"_**Understood."**_ Horuss finally stated, making Karkat relax by just a degree. _**"Then be prepared to move yourself."**_

As Horuss lifted up the mechanical arm, glowing brighter, a shot rang out and him at his back.

Karkat moved quickly, pulling out a sickle and his ecto-gun. He set it at the lower settings and fired off several shots, landing a few before Horuss started to block. As he got close, he swung his leg at the ghost's head, connecting.

Horuss was sent back a bit by the blow, discombobulating him. He was quick to react though, throwing the metal hand out to blast at Karkat with prejudice. It went out in a long beam, something Karkat was able to dodge easily. Karkat continued firing himself but was only able to hit once before Horuss started dodging himself.

It was almost a free for all as Karkat did most of the shooting, an occasional beam coming from Horuss. Aradia popped in and out of cover, shooting occasionally and landing them at least half the time. Just as many of Karkat's shots were hitting, only getting grazed by the beams.

Horuss, obsessed state or not, seemingly realized the state he was in and changed tactics. He suddenly shot forward, moving past Karkat's shots. When he got close, he swiped at him with the metal, getting Karkat in the side.

Thankfully, it was the blunt side and the surprise hurt him more. He certainly felt his ribs bruise at it, though. It was easy to dodge the second blow, along with blocking a third with his sickle. He tried pushing back, but it was clear Horuss was much stronger physically. Karkat instantly moved back, sending him careening over him.

Horuss was unable to right himself as his foot was suddenly wrapped up in Aradia's whip. Karkat kicked the ghost in the chest at the same time Aradia pulled, sending Horuss right into the junkyard.

Aradia let out a whoop after that, cheering. "Holy shit, I actually got him with that. I thought that was going to fuck up or something."

"Nice to know that you have such faith in your abilities." Karkat checked his sides, frowning behind his mask. Nothing broken, but certainly bruised. "I really hope he's down for the count. I don't think we hurt him that much."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Aradia brought the whip back to her, looking over the junkyard. She plucked out her phone to send a quick message. "It'd be a good idea to suck him up now. I highly doubt he's in a conversational mood right now."

"Probably." He looked over at her, eyes narrowing. "Any idea when those two are gonna get here?"

"About five minutes. Muelin's arrived and Sollux is flying with her." Aradia put the phone away. "We should hurry up. He could get up-"

They were interrupted as a rumble came from the junkyard. They froze, looking at the dark expanse of trash as _something_ came out of the shadows, rising slowly.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." Karkat mumbled, shoulders drooping.

It was practically a mecha made out of trash. A bulbous torso was the base of a small command center, with Horuss inside a class glass. The arms were made out of long, green wires connected to tiny drills in the form of hands. The legs were very much the same, except the feet were made out of small cars. The entirety of it glowed a sickly green.

"…Aradia?"

"Yeah?"

"Take cover. Switch to highest setting and only fire if you think you can hit and not get noticed." Karkat stared down the being, holding the weapons in his hands tightly. "Otherwise, wait until the others show up."

"Got it." Aradia didn't like it, but she knew that was the better option as she moved back into the shadows.

Karkat mentally prepared himself for what was essentially the second form boss fight.

"My life is fucking weird." He said to himself, upping the levels of intensity on his ecto-gun and opened fire.

The shots didn't necessarily do much other than set Horuss's mini-mech back a bit, but he recovered fast. It moved forward, lunging at Karkat with arms elongated into a large swipe. Karkat narrowly dodged it, finding that the robot was faster than he thought. He had to dodge another strike before trying to fire at the center console where Horuss was.

It was enough to hold back what could've been another barrage of blows. Some damage was done to the glass, but not enough to break it. Karkat backed off, making sure to keep firing. He didn't notice any ranged weapons on the thing, so-

Before he could think further, Karkat felt something slash across his back, along with a loud buzzing. He flew upward, turning to see some floating appliances rising out of the junkyard. He specifically noticed an electric razor that, while broken, was buzzing with life. There was also some ectoplasm dripping from it, which he could feel dripping down his own back.

"That's what I get for running my mouth." He mumbled to himself, beginning to dodge the appliances. He heard another shot ring out, Aradia landing a hit on Horuss's back.

The man in question was about to turn her way before Karkat sent a few warning shots of his own.

"Keep your eyes on me, asshole!" It was probably not the best time to insult someone, but the teen couldn't care. "Nice job with the razor, by the way! If I didn't have back hair before that, I certainly don't now!"

"_**As I stated before,"**_ Horuss's voice sounded more robotic this time, filtering through the glass. _**"Step aside or be moved aside."**_

"And I said _**tough shit." **_Karkat stopped to pull himself back from the scarier voice. That was _not_ what they needed right now. "And you know what? I'm think that since you gave me a close shave, I should give you the same."

Karkat suddenly dove in, avoiding various tools thrown at him. He fired at him as he did, narrowly avoiding various sharp objects as he did. The shots hit hard and fast on Horuss, who barely had time to react as they hit the torso of the mini-mech.

Karkat landed on the glass dome surrounding Horuss's body. He twirled the sickle in his hand and hit the butt of it against the glass, causing it to crack under the pressure. He did so a few more times before Horuss, in a fit of rage, swung the ends of his limbs at his location.

Karkat was able to dodge it by mere seconds, the ends hitting and shattering the glass hard. This caused the mech to stumble back. A familiar whip shot out from somewhere, grabbling onto one of the limbs and pulling hard enough to cause it to straighten out.

The ghostly teen took it as his cue, shooting forward once again. Moving the sickle into the more traditional position, he swung downward onto the wires of the captured arm, cutting through it like paper. The limb fell uselessly as it was separated from the main body, dropping to the ground.

Karkat almost celebrated that small victory before the onslaught of electronics began again, causing him to fly off and away from the mech. Horuss looked almost enraged, or as much as he could be for someone still having a blank face. From his and Aradia's standpoints, they could see the part of the broken mech start to slowly glow green again, along with floating upward.

"He's fixing himself?" Karkat cursed under his breath, trying to form up a plan. They couldn't let him regenerate the mech anymore, otherwise they'd eventually run out of energy. Unless Horuss tired out first, they'd most likely get beaten before the night ends.

They just needed some kind of distraction…

"Hey," A familiar and _extremely _welcome voice came in. "You assholes need some assistance?"

Sollux, rolling in from nowhere, didn't even bother waiting for an answer before letting out a shot beam from his cannon. A stream of ecto-energy flowed out of hit, with Horuss defensively blocking it with his remaining arm. It seemed to take most of his attention, as the dismantled part he tried to repair stopped glowing and fell to the ground.

"I'd suggest doing something now," Sollux shouted, putting all his focus on keeping the beam going. "I don't know how long this'll keep up! Try to get his legs or something."

"Got it!" Aradia's appeared out from cover, throwing her whip out again to catch one of the mech's legs. She pulled hard after it found purchase on the wires of the left leg, sending Horuss down onto one 'knee.' Karkat move forward as well, sickle in hand as he cut off the right leg for one final blow.

Without the support, the mech completely crumbled as Horuss flew out of it. His body language was agitated, as clearly seen by all in view. The three teens surrounded him, adjusting their weapons power levels. Karkat brought out the thermos too.

"_**What will it take for you to step aside?!" **_Horuss looked like someone had pushed him over the edge at this point, almost frothing at the mouth. _**"If I have to eliminate one of you to do this, I will! Do not test me, you-"**_

"Horuss!"

The sudden tackle of the ghost was out of left field, interrupting the monologue before it could come into fruition. A blur of green and blue stopped eventually, spinning out to reveal another ghost had joined the fray.

Honestly, it wasn't hard to guess that this one was Muelin by looks alone. She had plenty of the same features that Nepeta had, with the blue cat ears and all. Strangely enough, though, she actually dressed in a more normal way, which was a first considering the ghosts they'd seen so far. Dressed in a green shirt with the Leo symbol on it over a black long sleeve shirt, a skirt, green thigh high socks and black shoes, she was the most normal one they've seen.

Excluding the cat features, of course.

"Horuss," Muelin held onto the other ghost furiously, petting his back slowly and carefully. She moved so her face was looking into his. "I think it's time to stop now. You're letting your obsession get the best of you. I thought people with your power aren't allowed to do that."

"_**Mu**__el_**in?"**Horuss's voice wavered at first, surprised at interruption. **"What **_**are you **__doing he_re?"

"I was called over by your friends! They were worried about you after you went a little obsession crazy." She flicked him on the nose, which would've been cute if she hadn't done it during such a high stakes situation. "I heard you were being a bit of sour puss, so I figured I'd help them calm you down."

"_But __**Mue**_**lin, **_you hav__**en't s**_**een wh**_at kind of __**information **_**is available here!" **The waviness of his voice was becoming a little more stable, turning from scary to warbly whine. **"There's **_**so **__much _**to **_**learn!"**_

"Shoosh," Muelin patted his face, the _shoosh_ coming out long and sounding like a waterfall. "You've done enough right now. It's time to calm down now."

She continued to pat and _shoosh_ him, floating them downward. It was almost awkward for the others, who tried to not look directly at the two. They didn't know _why_ per say, but it felt too wrong to watch.

Eventually, the glow in Horuss's eyes diminished as the metallic arm fell apart, the original smartphone along with it. He went a little limp as he folded into Muelin's arms, exhausted. It was almost like he fell asleep, honestly.

None of the others dared to move until he fully calmed down. Muelin eventually stopped and waved at them to approach, which they did with immense caution. Horuss blinked, dazed with a dash of exhaustion clear on his face.

He looked around himself slowly, seeing the destruction left in his wake. The mech itself wasn't far from where they stood.

Horuss, chuckling in an embarrassed tone, looked at the ghost hunters warily. "I suppose I have a lot to make up for?"

"Not really," Karkat sighed, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. "But we do have a lot to tell you about today."

* * *

It didn't take too long to get back to the lab and wasn't too difficult to get in. Spades had gone in early for the night due to the garage sale, planning on working heavily on his projects in the morning.

"I am so sorry about my behavior earlier." Horuss was filled in on the way back about how things went, especially during the fight. "It was one thing to worry you, but I can't believe I attacked any of you."

"Relax, man, none of us were that hurt. I got hit worse when I had to fight Skulker, so I'd say that was easier than that." Karkat was in human form now, swigging some ectoplasm from flask Muelin had brought with her. He was starting to wonder if he should get one of his own. "At least we kept damage to minimum. The other ghosts destroyed some shit while they were here."

"Still, I could've hurt some people if you had left me to own devices." The ghost almost shrunk into himself, refusing to look into anyone's eyes. "Especially if I connected myself directly to the worlds internet. I would've ended up causing some real damage."

"Well, we did a pretty good job in stopping that, so don't worry about it too much." Aradia relaxed in her seat, a little sore from the heavy lifting she had to do. "I mean, I don't know if you remember anything from the fight. Karkat was chopping away at wires, I was taking you down with my whip, and then Sollux just bursts in! It was pretty kickass."

"I'm just hoping we don't have to fight like that for a long time." Sollux sipped on some soda, lounging lazily on a random seat. "That shit looked scary from far away."

Muelin rubbed Horuss's back still, trying to not to laugh herself. "At least it was pretty fun before that, right? I mean, giant robots aside."

"I suppose," The ghost groaned, getting to his feet softly. "It's probably a good time for me to head back into the Infinite Realms for now. I think I've overstayed my welcome."

"If that's what you want," Karkat understood, though he did feel a stab of disappointment at that. "You can come back out when you want to, but again, I'd give us fair warning next time."

"That's fair." Horuss floated up and moved towards the portal, waiting for Karkat to open it. He did stop before entering though. "I do ask if there's any way make-up for this."

Karkat opened his mouth to say no but stopped and thought about it. After a moment, he started talking. "I… I got a couple of ideas I guess."

"Shoot." Horuss floated upward, looking eager to have something to do.

"First thing," He pointed to the drone project his dad was working on. "I need you help finish one of my dad projects."

"Wait, why that one? I thought we were trying not to let your dad know too much about ghosts." Sollux straightened up and looked at his friend like he was insane, which he almost had a right to.

"As long it stays as camera footage or something, I'm fine with that. And considering what we're planning on doing, it'll be better if he has data than nothing." Karkat turned to Horuss, receiving a nod from the ghost. "Okay. The second thing is a lot more complicated."

"I highly doubt any machine is too complex for my skills." It was the most positive thing he said since he came to his sense, something that made Muelin very happy apparently.

"Good," Karkat swallowed his spit before saying his next command. "Because I'm going to need your help to shut down the portal."

Horuss was taken aback by this, smile traded out for a more perplexed look. "Really?" He started, looking between the teen and the portal itself. "I would think you would want to keep this open. Considering what you are, shouldn't having a consistent gateway to get into the 'Ghost Zone' be beneficial."

"Maybe to some people, but that things been more trouble than it's worth." Karkat leaned against the wall, looking at the device with suspicion. "Some pretty nasty things have slipping out of it, and I'm not just talking about Skulker. We've had to fight some tentacle monsters from time to time and those things can be pretty vicious if you give them enough room. Not to mention the property damage happening to the town."

Karkat sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just don't want anything else slipping through and hurting anyone."

Horuss stayed silent for a moment, looking between the boy and the portal. He sighed but nodded. "I suppose that is a fair concern. I'll help out as much as I can."

The ghost moved away from it momentarily, looking at Spades current project. "I do believe I can do something about this. It's a pretty good start and it looks like he's close enough. Are you sure you don't want him to continue on his own?"

"It'll be better if we can get a few less explosions in the house before he makes it work." Karkat mumbled. It elicited a laugh from Muelin, which only made him blush.

Horuss only shrugged before cracking his fingers. "Then I think it's about time I get to work."

* * *

Spades will admit that he was an idiot sometimes and that he could be pretty much half blind. He usually blamed his missing eye for that, though, as a way to live with it.

He was pretty sure he didn't know how the drone got finished, though.

Spades looked over the finished design of the drone. It honestly looked almost cool, made out of a sleek metal and ectoplasm flowing through it. It certainly _looked _like something he would make, but he couldn't help but be suspicious over it.

He admittedly had a few to drink last night when he got to a particularly frustrating roadblock with it and may not remember a part of what happened. Not exactly something he was proud to admit, especially since he usually worked with volatile machinery.

However, Spades had to say the drone looked good.

Which made him ultimately afraid of the test run.

"Alright, you little metal son of a bitch." He grabbed the controls and turned it on with the flick of a switch. "Time to see if you work."

With a brief hum, the machine turned on, lights turning the eerie green of ectoplasm he was used to. Moving a dial, the machine hummed louder as it began to float into the air. Not a single hiccup could be found as it glided upward in a smooth arc.

Happy to confirm that, Spades moved a small joystick to see if it would move in a more third dimensional way. Again, it moved in the air with little issue. It moved like a dream and operated like one too.

Spades smiled. Maybe he was a fucking genius after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least Horuss is okay, though Karkat might want to be careful what he wishes for in the future. At least he moved forward on how to deal with the portal problem, though they'll have to wait and see about that. At least they have typing quirks set up.
> 
> Hopefully you all enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next chapter!


	12. Dragon Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note; technically, this is the plot to Parental Bonding, but due to my changes, that title won't make sense. This won't happen to often (I think), so I'm just saying that to prepare you guys for this.
> 
> Also, guess what I found online to help me to with chatlogs! https://commandermark.github.io/homestuck_quirk/ is a website that provides you with a way to translate a sentence into the typing quirk of your choice. It certainly makes things much easier on my side and keeps things in character.
> 
> Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all later!

Karkat was thankful to say there'd been lull in ghost activity after Horuss became a regular at the portal. Whether it was the fact he stayed near the portal's opening with Muelin enough to capture any ghosts before they got out or their mere presence was a deterrent didn't really matter to him. All he knew that it provided him ample time to get some ghostly research in.

Nepeta was spending the rest of her grounding time explaining random things about ghost culture to him. It was a weird thing to consider, but there were a lot of things to consider about the Infinite Realms/Ghost Zone that probably most wouldn't consider.

For one thing, ghosts can have kids. He'd heard about it before, but he got some more confirmation about it from Nepeta that ghosts can breed and gain traits from their parents like any human baby would. However, they could form in two other ways.

The first was obvious; ghosts form from dying humans. But to be exact, they formed if a human, animal, or otherwise died near a place where the natural barrier dividing the Ghost Zone and the human world was thin or had high amounts of ecto-radiation. It also depends on the mental state of the dying human; they'd have to be in significant emotional distress, positive or negative, in order to form a high enough resonance that would attract ectoplasm. It almost explained Karkat's situation to the T.

A second, more surprising one, was that ghosts could form if something caused a great disturbance in the Ghost Zone. Whether it was a natural/artificial portal, a large number of ghosts dying in one place, or even a high amount of power usage, ghosts can form from that disturbance. There were plenty of ghosts out there born without human intervention that formed out of basic concepts. Ranges from simply forming ecto-puses to creating ghosts that could possibly shape the earth if they wanted.

Big threats if they ever got out with less than pure intentions. Something that Karkat didn't intend to happen.

They were currently talking about a different subject through the chat.

CG: EXPLAIN QUADRANTS TO ME. YOU MENTIONED MOIRAL'S AND I'M STILL FUCKING CONFUSED.

AC: :33 calm yourself, young padawan. i will teach you the ways.

CG: THEN LAY IT ON ME, FURRY YODA.

AC: :33 the fuck is a yoda? is it edible? anyway, let's get back to moirallegance.

AC: :33 how did i explain this befure?

CG: AS A MORE PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP INVOLVING CALMING THE OTHER THE FUCK DOWN IF THEY'RE GOING OBSESSED CRAZY.

AC: :33 you're not wrong, but it's a little more nuanced than that.

AC: :33 it is purely platonic and k33p each other grounded to purvent giving in to their obsessions. we call it 'pale' beclaws there's no actual sexual tension involved. we symbolize it with diamonds.

CG: SO, I'M RIGHT, IF ONLY SLIGHTLY UNDERSTATING IT. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?

AC: :33 let's go onto the flipside then. matespritship.

AC: :33 it's purtty close to human romance, with two people wanting a sexual relationship in a romantic sense. that's the pawsitive side of the sexual relationships. it's represented by heart and usually called the red quadrant.

CG: PRETTY SIMPLE SOUNDING. CAN'T SEE HOW THAT'S DIFFICULT.

AC: :33 oh, karkitty, we haven't even started on the complicated stuff. that's child's play.

CG: I REALLY WISH YOU WOULD STOP CALLING ME THAT.

Karkat wrote what could into a notebook, looking over it. He'd been doing this whenever he could get any kind of information on ghosts, big or small. At this point, he honestly couldn't help but feel like he was the only true expert on ghosts just from his notes alone.

It was ironic, really. He never saw himself going into his dad's field before and now he could probably be called a lead researcher. It's too bad he couldn't publish any journals right now since he was a fucking freak, he'd be famous.

AC: :33 alright. let's get into hard mode here and talk about kismesissitude.

CG: IS THAT EVEN A WORD?

AC: :33 it is. this relationship is a lot like those love-hate relationships humans s33m to like.

AC: :33 a kismesis is essentially mutual hate, a sense of rivalry and respect, with a dash of sexual tension. symbolized by the spade and called the black quadrant.

AC: :33 it's honestly one of the most complicated ones since you have to not only hate the annoying parts of your partner, but also actually have some appurciation fur their good sides.

CG: THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CONFUSING NIGHTMARE OF EMOTION, HONESTLY.

AC: :33 it's hard to k33p up, honestly. most of those relationships either change to another quadrant or turn sour. good luck on that.

CG: WHY DO YOU ASSUME THAT I'M GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS?

AC: :33 instinct! anyway, ashen quadrant. otherwise kmeown as the nightmare quadrant.

CG: THAT PUN WAS A STRETCH AND YOU KNOW IT.

AC: :33 don't interrupt. auspisticism is similar to how humans have marriage counseling or diplomats. a little bit more involved, but same function.

AC: :33 it's the most flexible quadrant, but it's important as it makes sure any blooming relationships don't get in the way of existing ones. it's not really 'romantic,' but it serves a purpose.

CG: IT'S REPRESENTED BY THE CLUB? THAT'S THE ONLY ONE LEFT, I THINK.

AC: :33 good job! nice to kmeow that someone's learning from me.

AC: :33 oh shit, my mom's coming. thanks fur listening to me, it's nice to have something to do while i'm grounded. my own moirail can't hang out with me right meow, so i'm really bored.

CG: NOT A PROBLEM. HOPE IT ENDS SOON. CAN NEVER TELL WHEN I'LL NEED BACKUP AGAIN.

AC: :33 just got one more day! anyway, s33 you later karkitty!

Karkat sighed, closing up the notebook and exiting Ghostian. There were probably better things he could ask Nepeta about ghost stuff, but he had to remember that she is his age. She doesn't know everything about ghost culture or ghost development since she, to her own admittance, lived in a cave.

As far as his power's development goes, all the ghosts he knew said that they developed over time. They did mention a few that, if he didn't find a way to fix all of this before then, he could look forward too. Ecto-blasts, duplication, and various other stuff could come to him depending on how his 'obsession' and general experience as ghost shaped them.

He made a note to find out what his obsession was. If it developed at all, that is.

"Is something wrong, Karkitten?"

He jumped at the sound of Muelin's voice, startling him out of his train of thought. Despite being somewhat similar to her sister, he didn't exactly have a good read on her personality just yet. He made a note to rectify that.

"Nothing. Just got done talking to your sister about quadrants and I might need some Aspirin." He stretched, getting the kinks out of his back. "It's not the weirdest thing to figure out about ghosts, I guess. It's up there, though."

"Yeah, I get that." Muelin shrugged, playing with some ball of yarn she found. It was strange how much she and Nepeta acted so stereotypically like cats. "But since we're pretty much souls made out of ectoplasm, we're pretty emotional. That's gotta go _somewhere_, right?"

He couldn't argue with that logic, making sure to nod thoughtfully. Muelin seemed satisfied by that and caught Horuss's attention. She signed at him carefully, smiling gently as he responded with his own.

Ghosts can be deaf too and apparently had their own sign language. Another thing he should've considered.

Something Spades probably never would.

Shit, he made himself depressed again.

"I'm going to head to school." He picked up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. "I'll need you guys to clear out for now. I'll see if I can get this place open for the afternoon and message you on Ghostian."

"Fair enough." Horuss got up to stretch too, muttering to himself. "I've yet to decipher half of the wiring your father has done to the portal. However, I hope to get a breakthrough in soon."

"Plus, a friend of ours is celebrating today." Muelin lifted herself off the ground, waving at Karkat. "We'll see you around. Hope no one attacks the school today."

"That makes two of us." Karkat saw them off as they slipped into the portal, closing it behind them without a word. He yawned as he headed to the stairs of the basement. Thinking things over for today. He wondered what they were going to celebrate with their friends for today.

…He really hoped that 'attack on the school' comment wouldn't come to bite him in the ass. He really didn't want to deal with that today.

* * *

In the depths of the Infinite Realms, floating islands stood there with little support. Some drifted from their original spots, while other orbited bigger islands in concentric circles, their orbit varying depending on their distance. It was a quiet place, far away from any known ghost populations.

"Hello?! Anyone?! Come on, you guys, you know you can't hide from me!"

Until Nepeta came along, however.

The ghost girl floated towards the islands, huffing. As fond as she was of games, she didn't want to stay out here too long. Her mom had lifted her grounding since she'd been relatively well behaved, and she wanted to see her friend. She hadn't told her everyone about all the crazy shit she'd involved in and she was dying to explain everything after the ritual was over.

Nepeta landed on an island, scratching her head. "Now, where did she go?" Her cat ears twitched, searching for any sound. "She said she'd meet me here. I really hope she didn't start without me."

She searched the islands carefully, keeping her wits about her as best she could. Despite this, she failed to notice as a shadow with pure red eyes began to rise from behind one of the islands, moving quietly. The cat ghost didn't hear the shadow move over behind her until it pounced…

"Gotcha!"

Landing on the ground of one of the islands, the two figures toppled over with Nepeta being on the bottom. She blinked at the smiling face of her friend before rolling her eyes. "Fine, you got me, Terezi. Mind letting me get up?"

The figure smiled, getting up and grabbing Nepeta along with her. "Fine, but you have to admit that I got you good."

The figure was revealed to be Terezi Pyrope, a scaly girl her age with pure red eyes that Nepeta knew saw nothing. The girl's hair was a bright orange, set off by pale skin and teal scales going down her face. She wore a teal jumpsuit that covered her body, a red vest with a high collar, red skirt splitting on each side for her legs, and long red boots laid over it. She held a red and white cane with a dragon head as the handle.

"I still don't know how you do that. I can actually see, and I can't ever sneak up behind you." Nepeta gave a friendly punch to the other girl's arm, sticking her tongue out at her.

"Helps when you have a nose like mine." Terezi's own forked tongue came out as well, showing sharper teeth then Nepeta's. "Oh, and blind jokes now? I guess being grounded really changes a person."

"It's been pawsitively _brutal."_ Nepeta floated onto her back, putting the back of her hand on her forehead dramatically. "I don't know if I recognize the outside world anymore. Anything important happen while I was imprisoned?"

"Jack shit, if we're being honest." Terezi flipped the cane to hold over her shoulders. "Mom's been kicking ass when it comes to getting criminals, but nothing noteworthy. What I want hear is why _your _mom decided to put under fire."

"Long and pawesome story. I'll tell you later." The cat girl ghost moved closer to her draconic friend, practically bouncing in front of her. "Tell me that you got it, first."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I got it." Terezi fished something out of her pockets, smiling widely to reveal a gold necklace. The necklace itself glowed a greenish hue, only muted by their surroundings. The strange aura of the necklace was only punctuated by the fact it had a gold, dragon head with red eyes at its center.

"Oooh, cool." Nepeta hugged her friend, laughing wildly. "I can't believe your mom finally let you have it! I almost thought she wouldn't let you have your own amulet."

"Me too, for a bit there. She kept training me with hers for so long, I thought she was trying to make me give up." The scaly girl looked at the necklace nervously, chuckling. "I almost don't want to put it on right now. I went through hell to get this thing; I don't want to fuck it up somehow."

"Don't be like that." Nepeta slapped the girls back with gusto. "You put in the effort to get that thing. It's yours! Kick some ass with it or something. Aren't you going on about justice all the time?"

"Pretend to execute your stuffed animals when you're thirteen and that's all anyone remembers about you." Terezi mumbled, rolling her eyes. She put her hands on her hips. "Besides, I'm barely allowed to do anything with this that isn't practice or self-defense. Otherwise, it'll be 'confiscated.'"

"Then wouldn't you say that this is a perfect time to practice?" Nepeta swept a hand over the lonely islands with cat-like grin.

Terezi let out her own mad laugh. "Well, I can't say that you're wrong. Maybe it's about time to use this bad boy." She unclasped the back of the necklace, putting it around her neck carefully. She looked hesitant for a second, taking another look around her. "You sure nobody else is around here?"

"Pawsitive." Nepeta ear's twitched searching for some kind of sound. She stopped for a second, smile tightening. "Wait, I think I just heard something."

Before either could make a move, a shot could be heard as something flew at Terezi, hitting her in the shoulder. She recoiled instantly, grabbing at it, and pulling it out, throwing it to the ground as she hissed.

It was, strangely enough, a needle filled with some red liquid. It looked like some of it was missing, most likely put into the scaly teen before she had ripped it out.

"The fuck is this?" Terezi's sniffed the air, trying to discern the substance. "Whoever shot me had a needle sharp enough to pierce my scales. I don't what was in there, though."

"Who would have something like that?" Nepeta questioned, before she immediately concluded who it could be. She growled and turned towards where the shot came from. "Skulker! Come on out here and fight me like a man, you metal coward! And don't drag Terezi into this, I want to settle the score!"

"I think he's gone. I can't smell him from here." Terezi tried to float towards her friend but drooped a little in the air. It felt like her chest was on fire for some reason. "Jeez, what was in the needle?"

Nepeta growled to herself but looked over at her friend with concern. "Are you feeling okay? It can't be deadly, otherwise that asshole would've stayed here." She floated down to the slowly drooping body of her friend, reaching out. "We should take you to your mom. She might now what he-"

A snarl suddenly broke out from Terezi, causing the cat girl to back off. The scaly teen hunched over, hacking, and heaving as her body reacted to the drug. Nepeta noticed that the scales on her were beginning to _increase,_ spreading all over her body.

Nepeta back off slowly as the body of her friend grew bigger and bigger with every moment, having only one thing to say.

"Oh shit."

* * *

"So," Karkat sidled up to Sollux at his locker. "Any idea what you want to do tomorrow? Been a while since we've had a Friday to ourselves. I don't think Aradia's got anything planned either."

"No idea. Been wanting to play Doomed for a while, but there's been so much shit going on." Sollux picked out his books. It was about to be free period soon, so he was taking his time sorting things out. "Don't really have much else planned other than that."

"Me too. I've been pretty much dodging all of my dad's ecto-detectors lately and I've been wanting to get out of the house though." Karkat looked over a corkboard, trying to discern the various posters from age. One caught his eye, though, causing him to recoil. "Shit, we're that having that stupid dance tomorrow night? Time fucking flies…"

"Shit, I knew I was forgetting something." Sollux growled, closing his locker with a grimace. "I think Aradia's doing some shit for that. Not sure how she convinced the school to do that, but that makes her MIA for tomorrow."

"That sucks." Karkat really did forget about all of that. He hoped the ghost shit hadn't taken too much time away from Aradia from this. He did get a devilish idea though, smiling a little as he shoved Captor. "Hey, maybe this is the perfect time for you to ask her to it. Might be fun~."

Sollux made sure to give his friend an extra hard 'tap' on the shoulder for that. "Shut the fuck up." The heterochromatic teen was blushing, face red. "We went over that shit already; I'm not doing that."

"Come on, it's not like she'll say no. She'll have to suffer the dance alone otherwise." Karkat made sure to poke him in the ribs in revenge for the punch to the shoulder. "She'd be grateful to have some company."

"_I'd _be grateful if you shut up." Sollux sighed, putting his head against the locker. "Besides, you remember how that all went down, right? Plus, it's not a great time to try anything she might not like."

Karkat sighed. Yeah, he remembered.

Back when they were thirteen, the worst time in anyone's lives, Sollux had a pretty bad crush on Aradia. Whether it was hormones kicking in or simply because he liked her, it was hard to say. He leaned towards the latter because, if Sollux's reaction meant anything, it didn't necessarily go away. He did ask her out once. Just once though.

They never got to go out since Aradia's mom died sometime after.

Sollux never complained about it, but it made sure a lot of things went on the wayside before anything happened. He and Karkat just focused on trying to be there for her, even when they split for over year after that. They did get back together in a sense when they were fifteen and have been going on strong for two years since.

Sollux never asked her out again, though, which Karkat figured was a crying shame. Figured now would be a perfect time.

Then he again, he almost died not that long ago either.

"Maybe you have a point there." Karkat adjusted his backpack, getting his back off the lockers. "But I wouldn't put that off any longer. Worst case scenario, she says no, and we move on with our lives." He lightly elbowed him as he passed. "Come on, I don't want to be late. Aradia'll get pissed if we don't make it."

Sollux sighed behind him, trudging behind him sullenly.

Until Karkat coughed, a small amount of smoke passing his lips.

As they stopped to wonder if they actually just say that, the speakers spread across the hall crackled to life.

"_Students of Casper High, we have just received news that a fire has broken out in the woods near the school. While officials say the fire should not reach the school, we ask that students go to any classrooms they can find and wait until further information comes in."_

The two barely registered the shuffling of people around them, looking at each other with wide eyes.

"Do you think that might be ghost related?" Sollux asked, starting to move to find an unattended classroom.

"I really fucking hope not." Karkat groaned, catching up to him. It didn't take long to find an empty classroom, with the halls of the school practically empty by then. They felt their phones buzz, pulling them out quickly.

AA: guys? is there s0mething g0ing 0n? did s0me idi0t try t0 sm0ke in the f0rest 0r s0mething?

TA: karkat puffed out 2ome 2moke. not much, though. could be 2ome a22hole gho2t fuckiing around iin there.

CG: WHATEVER IT WAS FLEW OVER THE SCHOOL. MAYBE IT WAS AN ACCIDENT OR SOMETHING.

They all jumped as another beep came from Ghostian, notifying them that someone else joined in on the chat.

AC: :33 guys, i don't kmeow if you've heard anything, but some shit kind of went down.

CG: WHAT SHIT?

CG: WAIT, ARE YOU INVOLVED WITH THAT FIRE GOING ON OUTSIDE?

AC: :33 kind of. skulker kind of did something to a friend of mine while we were in the infinite realms. i don't kmeow what, but she's all aggressive right meow.

AA: any idea h0w t0 calm her d0wn?

AC: :33 nothings working! she doesn't have a moirail either, so we're screwed on that one.

TA: do you have any iidea how two 2top her then? ii'd rather not have the 2chool burn down today.

AC: :33 i might kmeow a way to stop her, but i'm at least going to n33d phantom here to help me.

AA: what ab0ut me and s0llux? we can't let y0u guys deal with it al0ne.

CG: NO. I APPRECIATE THE IDEA, BUT NEITHER OF YOU CAN BREATHE SMOKE, SO THAT'S A NO GO.

CG: STAY HERE AND TRY TO PREVENT A PANIC OR SOMETHING. TRY NOT TO DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELVES.

"Dude, you can't be serious." Sollux looked up from his phone. "I mean we could take some of those extinguishers from the- Wait, where are you going?!"

Karkat may or may not have already been phasing through the glass window. He gave an embarrassed wave towards his direction.

"I'll ask for reinforcements if I need it. Unless you can learn to live without breathing, _stay here."_ Karkat said, slipping out fully. He transformed, turning invisible as soon he did. "See you soon!"

Sollux let out a groan, turning his attention back to the phone.

TA: "phantom" ii2 comiing two help. a22hole told u2 two 2tay put two.

AC: :33 thank god! sorry to put you out like this, but you guys n33d to breathe. just let us ghosts handle it.

She ticked off the chat too, leaving the two humans to themselves. Sollux sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Those two were idiots, that was for sure. He felt his phone buzz again.

AA: i kn0w y0u're pr0bably pissed at them, but they've g0t a p0int. i'm sure they'll be fine.

TA: probably. tho2e a22hole2 have 2urviived wor2e, ii gue22.

There was a moment of silence before Aradia sent another message.

AA: i highly d0ubt it's anything t00 bad. i mean, h0w terrifying c0uld her friend really be?

* * *

"…Nepeta?"

"Yes, Karkitty?"

"WHY IS YOUR FRIEND IS A DRAGON?!"

Karkat wasn't sure if this topped the sight of the robot ghost, but it certainly ranked as the one of the weirdest things he's had to deal with lately. He'd expected rampaging ghost, sure, that was something he was slowly starting to get used to. The ghost didn't mean it either, so he'd be able to help them hopefully calm down.

He just wasn't expecting a ghost dragon.

God, his life officially jumped the shark at some point.

"To be fair, she isn't always a dragon. She's just one right now." Nepeta watched a teal dragon shoot fire out of its mouth at some trees, burning a bright red and yellow. The dragon's spines were a darker color then the rest of its scales, while the underbelly was a shade lighter. It still had the pure red eyes that signified that it was Terezi. "You see the necklace, right? That's the reason why she's a dragon."

"You have cursed artifacts in the Ghost Zone?" Karkat questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Yes and no. Curse artifacts are a thing, but what she's wearing is a family heirloom. It allows people in her family turn into dragons with enough effort. And unfortunately, Skulker shot her while she was wearing the thing." Nepeta fidgeted where she stood, watching the dragon stomp on a tree "We need to stop her before she does anything too bad."

"Any idea for plan of attack? I could probably distract that thing if you can get that thing off of her." He didn't like the _idea_ of going up against a dragon, but he figured that he was quick enough to dodge anything it threw at him. Hopefully. "I don't exactly have shield and sword, though, so we're shit out of luck if defeating her is our only option."

"I can't say that she'll expect it." Nepeta floated upward for a second but stopped to give him a side-eye. "You said you breathe smoke whenever one of us shows up, right?"

"Pretty much." He drawled out, taking out his ecto-gun and a sickle.

"Good. You might survive if she sets you on fire." The cat girl ghost provided no other explanation and zipped off near the dragon ghost.

"Might? Wait, are you saying I'm immune to _fire?! _I highly doubt that's true!" Karkat didn't receive any response from her as she flew at top speed, leaving him behind. He sighed, cursing to himself.

Karkat messed with the gun, setting it a middle setting. He didn't know what would actually hurt a dragon hide, but he certainly didn't want to find out. He looked down at the dragon rampaging below and wondered briefly what she was like when this wasn't happening.

Guess he would figure out pretty soon.

"Hey!" He yelled at the dragon ghost, catching its attention. "Yeah, I'm talking to you! You have any idea what breath mint is?! Because I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to be breathing fire!"

Karkat had to immediately dodge as it fired at him, a stream of it going past him. He growled, shaking his fist at it. "It was only a suggestion! No need to get all pissed about it!"

It notably didn't provide any more banter as the dragon charged at him, swiping at him its claws. Karkat had to focus on dodging, moving from side to side as he the dragon tried to turn him to ribbons. When he had a moments reprieve, he shot at the dragon several times, hitting it in the snout and cheek.

This caused it to roar, shaking the leaves of surrounding trees. Karkat noted that Nepeta wasn't far behind the dragon, desperately trying to get at its neck. He sighed, turning up the juice on the ecto-gun and fired at the thing's chest.

This caught the dragon's attention once again, causing it to growl. I launched another wave of fire at him, making sure that he was a good distance from it.

"Okay, I get it, you're pissed off! That doesn't mean you have to piss on Smokey the Bears reputation by burning this place down!" He dodged another wave of fire, sending a few shots to his own. "Sort of ruins your point, to say the least!"

He automatically dodged another swipe aimed at his head. A quick look towards Nepeta showed that she wasn't that much closer in grabbing the necklace off of the dragon. He mentally groaned in his head.

"I'm seriously wasting banter here, aren't I?!" He chuckled. "I'm really getting sick of this game of chicken, by the way! Try and get me, bitch!"

Cranking the ecto-gun to its highest setting, he fired and hit it in the forehead, causing it to stumble back at that. The dazed look on its face didn't last forever though, roaring once again and leading into another pursuit.

Nepeta had finally gained purchase on the necklace, pulling at it with all of her might. She couldn't find the clasp on it either, feeling that it was locked tight against the dragon's neck. Karkat say this, mentally calculating another plan.

He seriously didn't want to risk any actual damage to 'Terezi,' but there was enough damage going around already. It would end up being worse if it got near the school. They needed to get that necklace off and fast…

He looked towards the ground and thought of something that would make getting it off a cinch. If he got it right, however.

It was a pretty big if.

"Nepeta, I'd suggest holding on tight! I'm about to do something stupid!" He sent a few more shots the dragon's way, taking a nosedive towards the ground. The cat girl ghost seemed to heed his warning, holding onto the necklace for her un-life.

Karkat made sure to dodge multiple swipes sent his way, along with another torrent of fire. He narrowed his eyes as the ground rose up to him faster and faster with each passing moment. Counting down the seconds, he sped up towards the ground in a near suicidal way.

At the very last moment, Karkat took a sharp turn around and move around the dragon, slicing at the necklace with his sickle. The jewelry came off with a snap, being flung off of it with a quick throw. It disappeared into the distance as the dragon hit the ground at full force.

Karkat took a minute to breath, turning around to watch the dragon slide across. A tree or two was knocked down in its wake, though the damage was mitigated as it grew smaller and smaller, the stretch of destruction thinning. He noted that Nepeta flew up for a few seconds before moving back down as the body of the dragon fully shifted into the what he assumed was Terezi's true form.

Flying down next to her, he looked over the new ghost. "Is she ok? I didn't really want to do that, but that was the only plan I could think of to get the fight over fast."

"A little scraped up, but she's been worse. You should've seen what it was like the first week she was blind." Nepeta slowly turned the girl over onto her back, wincing. "Even if she was, I think she'll be happy to _not _have killed anyone today."

"You say that like she would like to kill someone on her own time." He tried to laugh, but felt the exhaustion creep in. Karkat noticed Terezi twitch, causing him to get alarmed. "Shit, she's waking up. She's not going to freak out, right?"

He was answered by a loud groan and fluttering of eyes from Terezi, who looked blankly at the sky. She didn't say anything for a second or two before sniffing the air. She turned her head to Nepeta, duly looking towards her face. "Nep?"

"Yeah, Terezi?" The cat girl teen said, moving closer to listen to her friend.

"Why do I smell so much blue?" Terezi's voice was dazed and confused, easing Karkat's tension by a fair amount. "The green smells off too. Too dark. Not bright enough."

"It's a long story, kitten." Nepeta stroked the girl's hair softly. Her ears perked up at the sound of sirens nearing the area. "We can't stay here, though. I'll explain later."

At Nepeta's questioning glance, Karkat floated a little higher. "I think there's an abandoned house nearby we can use. I'll message Aradia and Sollux and see if we can meet up there."

She nodded, moving to pick up her friend. Karkat moved in closer as well, grabbing the girl carefully as he did so. As they floated in the direction, he was leading them, Karkat looked down at the destruction below and wondered just how people were going to explain this to themselves.

He really hoped they came up with a good enough answer themselves. He sure as hell wasn't providing one for them.

* * *

"I can't fucking believe this shit." Trizza stomped off of school grounds with a grumble. "Seriously, is our school fucking cursed?! The cafeteria blows up, our fieldtrip to the zoo is screwed over by faulty power, and now we have a forest fire?!"

"Considering our school is named after Casper the Friendly Ghost, our town is named after the Amityville Horror, our school mascot is a raven, I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner." Ardata Carmia, a social media personality and Trizza's 'friend,' commented. She sarcastically went through her feed. "To say the least, we do run quite a few red flags when it comes to cursed property. We'll have to hope it wasn't built on an ancient burial ground, at this point."

"Ha, ha, real funny." Tethis growled, kicking at the ground in an unladylike fashion. "It just better not effect the dance tomorrow. I've been preparing for that shit for weeks and I'm not even letting Vantas's dad ruin that shit."

"You've really been focusing on that guy for way too long. It makes it seem like you're expecting him to bomb the school or something." Ardata arched an eyebrow in her friend's direction.

"He might, for all I know!" Trizza seemed particularly worked up about this, hands making exaggerated movements as she talked. "His dad's been too quiet lately, working on some kind of project. I'm half expecting that he's going to blow up the fucking town before the weeks over."

"If he does, it'll certainly boost my follower count." The girl in cerulean clothing grinned maniacally. "He's always good for a laugh."

"And for a headache." Trizza kept stomping forward before her foot caught on something in the dirt, causing her to almost trip. She stopped to glare at the offending object before her eyes widened. Picking it up, she looked it over. "The fuck is this?"

Ardata barely gave the necklace with a dragon center a glance. "Looks like the shit the goth kids would fuck around with. Might be dirty too. I'd put it back where you found it."

"Why? I kinda like it." The girl in pink looked at a broken clasp and frowned. "I think I might have jewelry making shit in my room to fix it. It'd go perfect with my outfit for tomorrow."

"Fine." Ardata walked past Tethis. "That thing _does_ look cursed, though. You really want to be another horror movie trope at this point?"

"Fuck off. It's a necklace." Trizza laughed, putting in her bag without a second thought. "The fuck can it do to me that the school isn't sending our way?"

While the two continued to walk and talk, they failed to notice the bag give out the occasional red glow as they walked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that website was a big help, don't you think? Certainly makes it all the more accurate. Hopefully you Homestuck buffs out there appreciate it because it is free and can be used for own fics if you want them.
> 
> Also, quadrants will be used in the fic, but it will take time for Karkat to fill his own. He needs to get his shit together first before that happens. I won't say who I've got planned for right now, but feel free to send suggestions on what kind of pairings you would like to see in the future and I might pick a couple.
> 
> Either way, I'll see you all later and hope you have a nice day!


	13. Dance of the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter to Mutated Ectoplasm! Sorry this took a little longer then usual, my sleep schedule kind of got messed up due to a bout of insomnia. However, it is still up at a consistent time, so I still think I did goo.
> 
> This one was a weird one to right since I wanted to tackle a specific issue with one of Karkat's powers, though I only scratch the surface with it. I think I'll expand on it within the next chapters.
> 
> Also, I have something kinda special for you guys, but I'll link to it at the end of the chapter. I hope you all enjoy!

Terezi wasn't one to get much sleep, but she looked positively peaceful sleeping in that old chair they'd put her in. Nepeta couldn't remember the last time she was worked into exhaustion, but she figured that considering today's events would've knocked her out cold. It was nice to see her so relaxed.

But they were on a time crunch, so she might as well throw some water on her.

Karkat splashed the water on her quick, waking her up with a splutter. Terezi thankfully didn't immediately lash out, but did float to the top of the ceiling, hitting her head on it. Floating towards the ground, she groaned softly.

Nepeta moved next to her, rubbing her back. "Hey, hey, Terezi, relax. It's me. You haven't really been yourself today, so you might be feeling a bit funny."

"I _feel _like someone hit my with a truck. Multiple times." The scaled girl got up, blinking, and sniffing at the air. "I think my sense of smell is screwed. Everything smells wrong for some reason."

"I wouldn't say that." Nepeta rubbed the back of her head. "You're just in a really different place. It's a little hard to explain, I was going to tell you about it after we messed around with the amulet…"

"Nepeta," Terezi wouldn't have minded the stream of words coming out of her friends' mouth, but she was in so much pain right now. "Just tell me where I am right now."

"Welcome to Earth."

Karkat's voice caused both of them to jump, Terezi pulling out her cane and waving it around. "Who the fuck said that?!"

"Me. You know, the guy that stopped you from causing a forest fire?" Karkat rolled his eyes, watching the girl closely while staying as far away from her as possible. "You're in the human world. I wish that it were under better circumstances, but I guess we've both got shit luck for that to happen."

"The human world?" The scaly girl looked like she'd been struck for a second before shaking her head. "No. That's bullshit. How fuck would _I_ get into the human world?"

"It's a long story." Nepeta patter her on the back, putting her back into the old chair carefully. "He is telling the truth through. There's kind of a portal- you know what, I'll tell you later."

Terezi sniffed at the air, growling before eventually settling in. Her senses never steered her wrong before and they were telling her she wasn't in the Infinite Realms anymore. Not to mention Nepeta wouldn't really lie to her unless it was for something small.

Not to mention that the other ghost in here smelled… _off_ to her.

"Let's pretend that I believe you for a second that I'm in the human world," She started off slowly, hands gripping the cane carefully. She was ready to pull the sword out of its case if she needed to. "How exactly did I get here?"

"A scientist here was able to create an actual portal between the Ghost Zone and the human world not that long ago. You slipped through it after Skulker did something to you, with your amulet turning you into a dragon at the same time." Karkat felt a twinge of sympathy as her face darkened at the mention of the robot ghost. "I'm guessing you're not a fan of his?"

"No, my mom's been trying to arrest him for poaching for years. That explains why I don't remember anything, I guess." She rubbed hear forehead, head pounding. "I didn't do too much damage, right?"

"A few fires, but that's it." Nepeta waved it off, despite the fact that it was a pretty big deal that a few fires were started at all. "I don't think any humans saw you, so we're good on that front."

"Ok." Terezi immediately tried to grip something around her neck, but when a look of panic flitted across her face. "Where the hell is my amulet?"

"We were planning to look for it after we figured out if you calmed down or not." Karkat stated, floating closer to her. He couldn't help but feel a bit concerned at the genuine amount of fear that entered her expression. "Is something wrong?"

"There might be if we don't figure out where the amulet is." Terezi was remarkably taking it all in stride, though she did look ready to get into a panic attack at any moment. "I don't know how that thing will react to humans, but I also really don't want to figure out what could happen if it does."

"Great." Karkat sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Just another problem to put on the rest of the ones dropping into his lap lately. "Just what we needed. Another insane thing to deal with." He floated towards the ceiling of the abandoned house. "I'd suggest staying here for now, so no humans see you. I'd only suggest leaving in a couple of hours or if you hear anyone coming your way. There's ghost hunters around and you don't want to run into one of them."

"Wait!" Terezi shouted, but it was too late as Karkat slipped through the ceiling before she could say anything more. She growled but moved back into the seat. She hoped her healing factor would kick in to get rid of her headache. "Nice friend you have there, Nepeta. Smells weird too. Just what's that guy's deal."

"Don't worry about him, he's actually pretty cool! He's just trying to make sure nobody gets hurt." Nepeta floated around her, laughing to herself. "He's good friends with Muelin and Horuss, so he's not bad. Besides, he's half human, so he's not exactly up to date on ghost etiquette just yet."

Terezi nodded along, only half listening. She eventually stopped, turning her head towards her friend, confusion evident on her face. "I'm sorry, he's what?"

* * *

"And her I thought ghosts were going to be the weirdest things we'd ever deal with." Aradia huffed, walking towards Karkat's house. She looked exhausted after dealing with the fire drill and getting prepared for tomorrows dance. "Now we have cursed amulets to deal with. This is just all so weird."

"Is the amulet really cursed if it's doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing?" Sollux, in a rare twist, was trying to alleviate the tension. He wasn't used to it, though, so it wasn't exactly working. "I mean, the amulet was made to make her a dragon sometimes, it sounds like it's working just fine."

"It's cursed if it's in the wrong fucking hands, Captor." Karkat was mulling over the information they had on them currently. "The thing is, we don't actually know if it works with humans. If anything, it might be useless in the long run. That doesn't mean we can ignore it either."

"Plus, we don't exactly want a pissed off ghost looking around the place either." Aradia knew that everything was set off by Skulker, but she also didn't want to make Terezi and legitimate enemy. "So, finding it is a good idea, no matter what. Which'll be a nightmare if we don't get it done soon."

"Yeah, nice going there, KK." Sollux smiled at the offended look from his friend. At least if he was ticked off, he wasn't stressed.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to stop a forest fire. Next time a dragon shows up in town, you'll be the first I call, fuckass." Karkat punched the other teen in the arm, eyes rolling at the insult. "If I had to guess where I threw the thing, it's probably near the school. Maybe someone put it in the lost and found. If not, they probably tried to sell it to a pawn shop."

"We can try and look during the dance tomorrow." At her friend's groans, Megido rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that. It's a good way to get to the school after hours, plus nearly everyone will be there. If some didn't put it in the lost and found, then they might have it at the dance."

"I know, but dances suck usually." Sollux kicked at the ground, frowning. "Everyone is judging you based on how you're dressed, either nobody's dancing or they're out grinding on the dance floor, and we all know Tethis is going to be there."

"God, dances are when she's at her worst." Karkat remembered nearly every middle school dance Aradia had dragged them too and remembered the amount of pink Trizza would wear every year. He sighed, though. "But that is a good plan. Maybe we'll luck out with the lost and found, but our lucks not that good."

"Fuck." Captor deflated a bit, realizing he was fighting a futile battle. "I guess I can find something in my closet good enough to go to a dance in."

"I think I have a spare suit or two in my closet. If not, I'll borrow one of my dad's." Karkat mumbled. A thought occurred. "We were probably going to have to attend the dance anyway. I think my dad wants to a be chaperone."

"Crap, the school's letting him do it this year?" Aradia's surprise wasn't unwarranted. While Spades had admittedly behaved during those dances, that doesn't mean he didn't cause an incident or two in the past. "They must not have had a lot of volunteers lately."

"I think the incidents happening around town are scaring them off. You'd think they'd want to attend to keep an eye on their kids, but I guess not." Sollux moved his backpack, face looking uneasy. "Both of my dads have been worried about the stuff going on too. I don't think they believe Spades when he says it's ghosts, but they are wondering just what the hell is going on."

"My dad and stepmom are worried too, but they think it's all just accidents. I don't know what Heido's thinking, but she hasn't mentioned anything about ghosts since the Lunch Lady incident." Aradia's mind drifted to the field trip and other crap they'd gone through. "If they did know, I doubt they'd be happy knowing the town might be haunted."

"If we get the portal shut down, then it won't be." Karkat really hoped the gamble with Horuss would work out. "They only know about that, but they haven't seen anything. And if everything works out, then no one will."

"We can only hope on that." Aradia started to run ahead, heading towards her own home. "I'll you guys tomorrow. Meet up at my place with the ghosts and we'll figure out how to find that thing together. And put some effort into what you're wearing."

"Yes ma'am." They both sarcastically saluted, though she was already far gone by now. The boys looked at each other before sighing deeply.

"This dance is going to suck, isn't it?"

"Fuck yeah it is."

* * *

The next school day was uneventful, even with the chatter about the fire the day before. Most of the focus was on the dance that night, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Ardata was vlogging about it to her followers, mostly to tease about whatever she and Tethis were wearing that night.

Karkat had to ignore the urge to puke.

"I see you scrounged up something fancy for the occasion." Sollux caught up to him, strolling confidently beside him. He was wearing a red dress shirt with a blue tie, khakis, and his running shoes. His hair wasn't gelled or anything, but it was neater than it usually was.

"And I almost detect a hint of effort in your outfit. Somebody your looking to impress?" Karkat himself didn't exactly dress up too much for it. He basically found an old suit that didn't fit his dad anymore, consisting of a simple black overcoat, slacks, and a white dress shirt. He was actually wearing dress shoes since he could turn into his Phantom form to get past the limited movement it gave him.

"Don't even start." Captor sent a swift punch to his friends' arm, face burning. "You've heard from Nepeta and her friend yet? Can't really start any of this without them."

"They've been hanging out at the abandoned house all day and Nepeta's been updating me on Terezi's recovery. They should be meeting us here pretty soon." Karkat looked over the recent Ghostian log, putting it away after noting there were no more updates. "Just have to hope they get here fast enough."

It didn't take long to get to Aradia's house. Karkat swallowed up his dread while Sollux did his best to settle his nerves. It didn't work since Vantas had to be the one to knock on the door. They heard Aradia's voice shout to wait before the clunk of footsteps rushed towards the door.

Aradia was dressed in a simple black dress that went down to her feet. Her hair looked slightly combed for once, but only put on a little makeup for the occasion. The fact she wasn't walking funny probably meant she was wearing sneakers under her dress too in case things went south. She closed the door behind her, twirling around with a smirk. "How do I look?"

Karkat nodded appreciatively while Sollux looked ready to turn into a tomato.

"For a bunch of losers, we actually clean up nicely." Karkat joked, elbowing Sollux to get him out of his stupor. His expression turned serious, voice lowering so no one would hear them. "We all have our weapons, right? Just in case?"

"I have my ecto-gun on an ankle holster. Couldn't bring the bigger one, though." Sollux stuttered out, almost wincing at how high his voice got. He cleared his throat, getting it back under control. "I did bring a taser, but I don't know how well that'll work."

"Same here. I do have my whip on me, though." She lifted up her dress a little, showing that a small amount of the while was around her ankle. "Again, don't know how that'll work against a dragon, but it's better than nothing."

"It helped defeat a mech, so I'm not complaining." The ghostly teen felt a puff of smoke flow out of his body, looking upwards. "And it looks like the rest of our party is here on time."

Nepeta cheerfully floated ahead, holding Terezi's hand. The scaly ghost in question sniffed the air and 'looked' at every one of the humans present before her. She floated closer to Karkat, sniffing him down for a second, narrowing her eyes at him.

Then she licked his face.

A moment of stunned silence followed after that, everyone but Nepeta watching Terezi with disbelief as she contemplated something. She nodded, turning to the cat girl ghost. "He's half human alright. I'll be damned."

"Wha- You needed to lick me to figure that out?!" Karkat wasn't sure how to feel about that, so he went with the first outburst he could. He wiped the saliva off his face with his sleeve as fast as he could. "You could've fucking asked before licking me!"

"Now that's just no fun. Besides, I need to do that to see." Terezi looked around at the rest of them with a sharp toothed smile. "I'm guessing the rest of you are here to help get my amulet back?"

"Pretty much." Sollux kept an eye on her so she wouldn't lick him too. Her sniffing at him didn't soothe that worry in the slightest. "Figured it landed at the school and we'll search in some places first before going around the building. Better to start with that."

"His dad is chaperoning, though. Most likely he'll have something that could sniff you out, so there's a good chance we might need you to sit this one out." Aradia looked at them both carefully. "Unless either of you have a way to go hide from an ecto-detector, it might be best if you sit this one out."

"Um," Nepeta started, looking nervously between the three of them. "We might have an idea, actually."

"You ever heard of overshadowing yet?" Terezi piped. When she was met with silence, she shrugged and started to explain. "Ghosts can sort of 'shift' into other people and take themselves along for the ride."

"Wait, are you talking about possession?" Sollux sounded somewhat alarmed at the prospect. "Don't you need to ask me out for dinner before getting inside me?"

Terezi narrowed her red eyes at the boy and pointed at him. "Just for that, I'm calling dibs on your body."

"It's not like we'll be controlling your body." Nepeta started, trying to defend the idea. "I mean, we can, but we can take a back seat. It'll probably be enough to get under Phantom's dad's radar."

"What about just slipping into my body then?" Karkat tried to get them out of it. He didn't like the idea either, but he could live with that. "I mean, if they don't want to-"

"We appreciate the sentiment, Phantom, but we don't know what exactly what would happen if we tried that." Terezi interrupted him. The scaled girl did look somewhat apologetic. "Ghosts can't overshadow each other. Considering you're only half human, we can't risk that shit."

The conversation was halted as they heard footsteps coming from Aradia's house. Heido was most likely coming out to drive them to the school. The group started to panic, realizing they didn't have much time.

"Fuck it," Aradia gritted her teeth, moving her hand out to Nepeta. "Come on in. Be careful in there, okay?"

"I'll do my best." Nepeta smiled toothily, grabbing the girl's hand. She dissipated moments later, seemingly moving into the girl with ease. Aradia's eyes flashed the same color green as the ghosts for a second before it disappeared with a quick blink.

Sollux sighed, repeating the gesture to Terezi. The scaled girl slipped into him as well, causing him to tense up for a second, his own eyes flashing red. He eventually relaxed, the red switching back to its usual heterochromatic colors.

Heido opened the door up a second later. She looked over the teens briefly, none the wiser that there were two ghosts present a few seconds ago. "You kids ready to head out?"

"Yeah," Karkat looked over at his friends, watching them nod along silently. They didn't seem any different than they were a second ago, which was a slightly disturbing thought. "We're good."

For a second, he wondered if he could do that. He pushed the thought out of his brain before it could blossom further.

* * *

The ride was thankfully short. Karkat had been keeping an eye on Sollux and Aradia, but they didn't act strange other than the fact that they remained silent the entire time. If it wasn't for the supernatural shit, he would've assumed he was third wheeling on a very awkward date.

He would've preferred that if he was honest. He _really_ didn't like the idea that they were possessed in the slightest, even if he could at least trust Nepeta not to do anything wrong with their bodies.

Arriving near the entrance of the school, they all let out a collective breath. Aradia took the lead, grabbing Sollux's arm in the process.

"We'll go and hang on the dancefloor, see if we can spot that amulet on anyone. Karkat, make sure to check out the lost and found." Aradia thankfully sounded like herself enough to calm Karkat's nerves. "If you run into anything, message us quick."

"Yes ma'am." Karkat gave her a quick salute, moving out as fast as his legs could take him. He sent a look back to their retreating forms.

He really hoped they were okay with all of this.

* * *

Sollux, to his credit, was taking the possession thing fairly well. He felt like he pretty much in control of himself and it looked like Aradia was holding herself together. Her eyes were scanning people around them as she led them through the crowd, dancing softly to some bullshit slow song.

Admittedly, _that_ was what he was freaking out about.

"_Can you please calm down your hormones for about ten seconds? It's getting sweaty in here."_

Sollux nearly jumped out of his skin hearing a voice in the back of his head. It sounded like Terezi, though, so he forced the fear down for a second.

"_There's such a thing as being a backseat driving you know."_ He responded mentally. _"I don't need you tell me what to do here."_

"_I beg to differ. I haven't been around here long enough to know what humans are normally like, but I know what awkward moments are like."_ The snark was to be expected, though he still didn't appreciate it. _"At least say something to her. She's probably feeling as awkward as you are."_

"_And how am I supposed to trust your advice on this?" _Sollux almost raised a literal eyebrow at her statement.

"_Because if you don't, I'll take over and make you start licking random crap around here." _Terezi deadpanned.

"_Fuck sakes, fine, I'll say something."_ Sollux cleared his throat, catching Aradia's attention. He realized he should have prepared something beforehand when she looked expectantly at him. "See anything interesting yet?"

"_Smooth."_

"Nothing yet." Aradia looked like she wasn't sure to be irritated or relieved by that fact. "Karkat hasn't messaged either of us either, so I'm assuming he hasn't seen anything either. We might have to comb over the grounds later over the weekend."

"There goes our weekend plans." He muttered. Damn ghost crap was starting to get really annoying, but at least this was relatively low risk. "And the whole possession thing? Terezi's been threatening to make me lick things if she keeps being bored."

"Is that why you looked annoyed a few minutes ago?" The girl laughed, eyes glittering in amusement. "Nepeta's been chattering about all the couple around us. She has some strong opinions about some of them, apparently."

"Really? Didn't take her as a gossip." That was a surprising thing. Karkat did most of the talking with the ghosts, which maybe was a mistake.

"Less of a gossip, more a shipper." Aradia subtly pointed at a couple swaying awkwardly, neither of them looking like they wanted to be there. "She says they're pretty cute together, but she has a pretty good idea that one of them is gay and the other is their 'beard.' The guys been eyeing that dude in red all night."

"Huh." Now that it was pointed out, he couldn't help but agree with her. They both looked a little uncomfortable and that guy in red did seem to throw his own glances their way. "Probably doesn't know any of the groups he could join. We can contact one of them to see if they can help him out."

"Probably." Aradia chuckled again, though it was a little subdued. She learned her head against Sollux's shoulder. "We really are getting into the whole superhero mindset, aren't we?"

"Yeah." The depressing thought outweighed any embarrassment he could've felt from this. "It's not a bad gig, really. I mean, who else can say they've taken down a mech with the help of the undead."

"Fair. They can't say they had to find a magical amulet too, so I'd say we win at life." She got a curious look on her face. "Do you think before we disable the portal that Karkat would let me go around in those ruins we saw? Interdimensional archeology would be an interesting thing to add to my resume."

"You'd be miles ahead every other person in your field." Sollux relaxed fully. Why was he worried before? This was Aradia, there wasn't going to be any awkward shit. "I doubt it, though. He's been really overprotective lately."

"True." Aradia squeezed Sollux's hand. She still smiled, though her eyes wandered around the area once more in search of the amulet.

"_I ship it."_ Nepeta whispered in her head.

"_Shh." _She mentally whispered back.

* * *

"For crying out loud," Karkat muttered, throwing the last of the items off into the bin. "Who the fuck brings a horse mask to school? Goddam lunatics, that's who."

He didn't really know why he was speaking out loud, but it made him feel better to complain about it. He hadn't got a message either, so he was definitely feeling on edge. If he didn't find that amulet soon, he didn't want to know what would happen.

"Maybe some idiot dropped it in the bathrooms." He moved towards the boys and hoped to whatever God let him live through that portal accident that he wouldn't have to search any longer. It'd be pretty fucking creepy if he had to float around the girl's bathroom.

He was turning a corner to do just that when he had the unfortunate luck to run into Trizza fucking Tethis.

"Watch where you're going you- oh. It's you." Trizza had the gall to glare at him, even though Karkat was the one that had the right of way. "I'm surprised you even showed your face here. Megido drag you out here?"

"I came here because I wanted to, thank you." Karkat bit back any insult he could've thought up of considering how much time he may have had. "I'm also in a goddam hurry. I don't have time for your melodrama."

"You know, this is actually the perfect time. I've been trying to talk to you and your dumbass friends for a while now and you've been avoiding me." She attempted to move in front of him, making Karkat nearly growl at her.

"If this is about whatever my dad is doing, he's just doing another presentation on his invention. Now would you kindly fuck off?" Karkat barely wanted to look at the sickeningly pink dress she had on, but his eyes wandered anyway. "Unless you want to follow into the boys-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as he finally saw the amulet.

Around Trizza _fucking_ Tethis's neck.

Of fucking course.

"Follow you where?" Trizza crossed her arms, looking into Karkat's eyes with a glare of her own. "I ain't going anywhere, especially with you."

The ghostly teen snapped his mouth shut, turning the corner quickly. He made sure to speed walk towards the boy's bathroom, slipping into it, and locking the door behind him before she could react. He heard some stomping and small shriek, followed by retreating footsteps.

Karkat never pulled out his phone so fast before in his life.

CG: GUYS, I FOUND THE AMULET.

TA: 2eriiou2ly? thank chrii2t, ii wa2 2tartiing two thiink we'd be 2pendiing the weekend at 2chool.

AA: did y0u find it in the l0st and f0und?

CG: NO, IT'S WORSE. TETHIS HAS IT.

There was a moment where no one typed anything, causing him to stew in bathroom. The Ghostian log then beeped with two new messages.

TA: 2ay 2iike riight now.

AA: please tell me that this is a j0ke.

CG: WHY THE FUCK WOULD I JOKE ABOUT THIS?! I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE GOT IT, BUT SHE DOES.

TA: then get iit off her! god know2 what 2he'd do iif 2he had a hii22y fiit duriing the dance.

AA: it's never a party until tethis l0ses her mind 0ver s0mething small. and we're well past her usual rec0rd.

CG: ALRIGHT, I'LL GET TO IT. JUST BE READY TO RUN ON OVER HERE IF THINGS GO SOUTH.

AA: aye, aye, captain!

TA: don't get caught!

"Nice words of encouragement guys." Karkat unlocked the door, going intangible and slipping through it. "Really feeling the love here."

He remained invisible, attempting to keep his ghost powers to a minimum so it didn't trip off any of his dad's alarms. The invisible teen moved slowly through the hallway where he saw Tethis last, guessing she couldn't have gotten far. Heels didn't exactly make you quick and Trizza wouldn't be caught dead not wearing them.

It didn't take long to find her considering she was as loud as he usually is. Thankfully, it looked like she was just talking to Ardata, so maybe he could get away with taking the thing unnoticed.

"So, any of your pics getting votes on Instagram right now?" Trizza looked closely at the other girl's phone. "I can feel everyone there _dying_ with envy already."

"I can't really tell. The school's Wi-Fi is acting like shit tonight. Doesn't help that your flooding my inbox with your meme crap." Ardata tapped on her phones keyboard, huffing angrily. "Some bots are fucking up the algorithm too. And not in the good way."

"Hm. At least we it'll get posted in the morning." Trizza shifted at her feet anxiously. "Let's at least get back to the party. Better than waiting it out here."

"Fair enough." Ardata put away the phone and started to head towards the gym. "Least we can laugh at any of those idiots that try to flirt with us."

"Damn right. You remember how that one guy in middle school tried to-"

Tethis had to stop what she was saying after the doors to the gym opened wide, a couple stumbling through. Trizza would've stepped aside, but she wasn't quick enough to dodge the two's drinks, spilling all over her dress.

Karkat felt himself choke, stifling a cross between laughter and gasping. On any other day, he would've laughed his off at this, but he really wished it had to wait until a lot later.

Trizza didn't seem to react for a moment, ignoring the obviously drunk couple as they moved down the hallway. Ardata seemed ready to panic as well, watching the couple pass on by and inching away from Tethis.

"You okay? Jesus Christ, that shit got all over you." She started, trying to laugh it off. She shivered as Trizza only gave her a blank stare in response. "Okay, this is an Omega Level kind of anger. Not good. I'll go get you something to get that off, just wait right here."

Ardata did the wisest thing she could've (unwittingly) done and moved farther into the school. Probably to avoid the upcoming hissy fit.

Karkat had hoped that maybe she wouldn't have any type of transformation, but he could already feel the amount of ectoplasm in the air rising, with Trizza's eyes glowing a deep red.

With a deep sigh of resignation, he reached over a pulled the nearby fire alarm down.

* * *

Spades figured coming here would be a mistake, but he felt he had to do something.

He finagled with the ecto-detector, eyes occasionally roaming over students. The thing hadn't let out a peep the entire time, which was a relief. However, he couldn't help but feel like something was about to happen again.

Spades wasn't an idiot that didn't realize weird things were going on at his son's school. It was even the reason why he volunteered to chaperone the dance, even if he figured Karkat wouldn't attend the damn thing.

Of course, he didn't know what that weirdness actually _was._ The damn ecto-detector would begin to beep, causing him to go into a panic, before settling down at random. He was usually halfway out the door when it stopped, driving him crazier each time it did.

It didn't help that his son was apparently lying to him for some fucking reason he couldn't figure out. It started after that shit with the 'lunch lady ghost' he talked about, that was all he was sure about. Maybe the fact he finally proved they were real freaked him out? Then again, he took the portal being operational like it was the best thing in the world.

A delayed reaction then? Fuck sakes, the portal was supposed to make things easier, not fucking _harder._

Spades sighed, kicking at the floor. They'd have to have a serious talk about everything after he showed off the portal. Maybe the anticipation for the reveal was killing the kid like it was killing him.

His eyes caught Sollux and Aradia seemingly moving towards one of the exits out of the gym. It was probably a good idea to talk to them about this. They'd know what's wrong better than he would at this point.

As he got up from his position near the wall, Spades immediately stiffened as the ringing of the fire alarm went off, causing everyone in the room to stop in their tracks. Before he could think to do something about it, he was already being pushed out the door by a wave of kids and panicked adults running out the exit leading outside the school.

Before Spades was fully pushed out of the building, he made sure to take a quick look to see if Karkat and his friends were among the crowd.

He couldn't find them at all.

* * *

"Trizza, I know this doesn't usually help, but can I suggest you do this one thing?" Karkat flew around, dodging the fire spit his way. "Maybe you could CALM THE FUCK DOWN?!"

Karkat only had a few things to thank at this moment; one, Trizza's dragon form wasn't even close to being as Terezi's. Two, the fire alarm most likely helped evacuate everyone from the building fast enough to not get caught in the crossfire. Three, he'd have some backup pretty soon.

On the other hand, he had a feeling that Trizza was only going to get bigger, as he could've sworn that she was smaller a minute ago. Not to mention he couldn't exactly take out his sickles because humans are a hell of a lot less likely to be able to survive them. He'd only been able to take some pot shots at her while drawing her out of the school.

Trizza, in her pink and black dragon form, lunged at him and snapped her jaws. Karkat was able to get away, though it was a close call.

"Jesus, I know everyone wants a piece of me, but that doesn't mean you can just bite it off. Buy me dinner first before you get your dessert!" He flipped in the air, kicking the dragon in the jaw. "Trust me, I'm not an easy lay! You got to work for this shit!"

Trizza naturally didn't provide any banter as she breathed another fire, hitting some lockers to the sides of them. Karkat cursed to himself, doing his best to think quickly. He fired at a nearby sprinkler, causing it to go off and put the fire out.

He heard a set of doors slam open not too far away, the familiar shouts of Aradia and Sollux coming out. He also heard some distant screams, but they were moving farther away while his friends came closer.

"I'm down the hall!" He shouted, slipping under the dragon as it attempted leap onto him. Turning around and shooting it in the back, he shouted more. "Send in Terezi and Nepeta first! Get some extinguishers in here too, she's spitting fire everywhere!"

He could his friend cry out their affirmatives as he punched the dragon in the face. It hurt his knuckles badly, but it did stun Trizza long enough for his backup to arrive.

Nepeta leaped in, going from wall to wall, before flipping up and slamming her foot onto the dragons back. It buckled under the blow, but didn't fall, prolonging its stunned state. The blow was followed by Terezi swooping to its side, kicking it with all her might. It was sent into the lockers, flipping onto its back.

The two ghosts floated beside Phantom, assessing the damage.

"I'm guessing you don't want us to use any weapons on her?" Terezi tilted her head, attention never leaving Trizza's dragon form. "This is your territory, so what you say goes."

"I figured we should try and knock her out first. I'd rather not hurt her too much otherwise." Karkat wasn't happy about any of this, but Tethis didn't deserve to die for something she didn't know she was a part of. "We'll keep all attention on us while Aradia and Sollux mitigate the damage."

"Got it, Phantom!" Nepeta crouched on the ground, eyes narrowing at the dragon. "Let's make it quick. We've been out longer then we should, and I don't think our moms are going to believe that camping story for long."

The dragon let out a roar, leaping at the cat girl ghost with a ferocity, trying to capture her within its jaws. Nepeta expertly dodged, not even getting a scratch on her as it kept swiping at her. Karkat shot at its eyes, causing it to roar in pain before Terezi punched it in the face.

Nepeta moved around the room quickly, confusing Trizza even more, before pulling a similar move to early. She aimed at the tail this time, causing it to yelp and rise up. Karkat sent a kick to one of its legs, causing to stumble to the floor. Terezi took this as her chance, jumping onto Trizza's back, grabbing at her jaws.

The two struggled, Terezi trying to grab the amulet, while also keeping the dragon's mouth closed. It looked like she was wrestling an alligator, though the fact this one was breath smoke out of its mouth at alarming rate ruined the illusion.

The occasional spout of fire came out of the dragon's mouth, hitting the floor around them at random. Karkat and Nepeta backed up at first, dodging it as much as they could. Karkat aimed his ecto-gun at another sprinkler but was interrupted as the sound of extinguishers went off.

Aradia and Sollux had finally caught up to them, brandishing the extinguishers and using them as much as they could. They eventually began spraying at the dragon itself, stifling any further inferno that could've began.

"This isn't working." Karkat noted that Terezi, while doing her best, was having significant trouble getting it off. Combining their efforts would probably help if it weren't for the fact Trizza was still fucking growing. "If this keeps going on, she's going to become too big for the school. We need to settle her down somehow."

He looked over at his friends for a moment before an idea shot off into his brain. He suddenly thrust his weapons into Nepeta's hands. "I got an idea! Aradia, Sollux, keep using the extinguishers!"

Karkat didn't bother waiting for an affirmative before diving towards the dragon, phasing into her as fast he could.

* * *

"_Okay, already regretting this plan. I really hope this pays off."_

Karkat wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling right now. He honestly felt like he was floating in a void right now, though his senses were practically nonexistent right now. They were dulled at the very least.

"_I should've asked for a crash course on possession." _Karkat's mind started, reaching out for something. _"I just need to take over this body. Then they can get the amulet off. Just have to do this quick."_

_GETOUT_

Karkat flinched at the sudden… shout? Scream? He wasn't sure what to call that. Was Trizza still conscious?

_GETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT_

He could feel an invisible thing almost try to shove him out of Trizza's mind, practically as physical as it was mental. Karkat pushed back just as hard, the invisible force giving away little by little.

"_Trizza, just let me in! You're not yourself right now!"_ He didn't exactly know if she 'heard' him, but he hoped that she got it. _"If you don't let me take over now, you're going to fuck up the school!"_

The incessant chanting didn't stop, the weight of it somehow getting heavier.

_GETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT_

Karkat couldn't help but feel his patience wear thin as the chanting kept going. Anger at the fact he had to fight, frustration that his life led up to this moment, every little confusing moment of existential dread since the portal accident…

"_**QUIET!"**_

He didn't know where the shout exactly came from, but when he finally let it out, the chanting finally went away. The mental push gave way, causing him to fall into somewhere dark, deep and-

* * *

Karkat felt his eyes flutter open for a moment and felt _off._

The groan that left his throat didn't sound right and he couldn't help but feel off balance. Proportions on his body weren't in the right place and some things felt missing-

He was in Trizza's body.

His eyes opened wide open at that, getting to his feet (in heels that weren't his and feet that weren't as calloused). He felt some hands trying to support him as he did (Sollux and Aradia looked weird now, Tethis was probably color blind). There were pains in his back that seemed to be too old be from the fight (he really didn't like feeling the weight on his chest, it felt too _weird, get him out of this __**body**_).

"Somebody catch Tethis before she falls." Karkat ordered, phasing out of her body quickly. He dully noted that Terezi, who was sending a sympathetic look his way, was holding the amulet in her hands. Trizza looked uninjured, though he felt himself look away before he could double check.

"I don't want to ever do that again." He muttered; his fists clenched. "Please don't make me do that again."

He felt somebody hug him (probably Nepeta since he didn't feel the usual warmth a human would give). He didn't register it, even as they all walked outside, the ghosts eventually disappearing. He didn't even register the frantic sounds of people around him, including his dad checking him over.

Karkat didn't say anything for the rest of the night until he went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Yeah, Karkat doesn't like "overshadowing" people it seems. I'll expand on that later.
> 
> That reminds me! For anyone particularly musically inclined, I actually decided to make a playlist for Karkat's character as a writing exercise. I don't know how it translates to people outside of my perspective, but I think it works.
> 
> It's completely Karkat-centric, so I might make more in the future to focus on other prevalent characters. There are some explicit songs in there, but that shouldn't surprise anyone since it is Karkat we're talking about here. Here's the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6lPXFOabSGNqHzivpndyvB
> 
> I also have a few others based on the three main characters of my other fic that I'll link if you ask for it. Either way, I hope you all enjoy if you listen and that you have a great day!


	14. Fanning the Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Glad to see you all here reading this chapter! Hope you're all doing well, especially when it comes to the how things are going right now.
> 
> Well, I'm assuming you know what's going to happen in this chapter. Remember, no spoiling anybody else about it, though I do have some additional news; this is a three-parter! I'm combining it with another episode within the series, which you'll understand as soon as the next chapter is published. If you have already, make sure to keep spoilers out!
> 
> Now without further ado, let's start.

Karkat was back in the counselor's office again. And he sure as well didn't like it.

The crisis at the dance apparently awarded another round of forced visits to the school counselor. If he didn't feel so agitated right now, he'd almost feel sorry for that Serket woman for the amount of work she's probably been swamped with.

"At least Tethis turned out to be okay…" He mumbled to himself, squirming in his seat while he waited for Aranea to show up.

Nobody was able to prove anything weird had gone on during the dance, though they did find the scorch marks from the fight. Nobody had been blamed, but the teachers have been on the lookout for anyone that might've caused a fire during that time. No hands had been pointed at him or his friends, so that was a nice reprieve.

Tethis herself remained unconscious for a few minutes, but after getting her out of there and getting her into a safe place, she woke up and only complained about being sore. She was questioned by the police later about anything she could've saw, but she hadn't remembered shit.

Whether that was due to the amulet or him possessing her, Karkat didn't know. He honestly didn't want to know.

He couldn't help but inwardly cringe at his own behavior after the night ended. He admittedly tried blacking out the rest of it from his memory, but it was kind of difficult. Everything played out in his head perfectly, a play by play every few moments.

He was just at the part when he slipped into Tethis's body when the door behind him swung open, startling him out of his thoughts.

"I'd say that it's good to see you here again, Mr. Vantas, but it'd be almost ghoulish to say so." Aranea sat down in her seat with a huff, adjusting her papers as she did so. She looked a little worn out, though strangely satisfied about something at the same time. "I'm guessing you already know why you were sent here."

"Because of the fire during the dance." Karkat rolled his eyes at her. "Not entirely sure why, other than that. Nothing much to say on the subject, really."

"I suppose that's fair. Though your father did raise quite a ruckus about the situation if I remember correctly." She adjusted her glasses, looking over what was most likely the incident report. "He seemed to be ranting on about ghosts the entire time, something about getting an ecto-signature on his radar. I can't say that doesn't sound embarrassing."

"It was the first few times he did it, but that's basically old hat by now. He'd have to do something extreme to embarrass me now." He couldn't help but legitimately laugh at that. "You really haven't seen any of his 'experiments,' so I that's only the start of it for now."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Karkat swore he heard her mutter about raising her insurance but decided to leave it be. "Though, speaking of your father, he actually did contact me about your behavior over the past weekend."

Now _that_ was a curveball he wasn't honestly expecting.

"He did?" Karkat felt a little shame at that, having fully expected that his dad didn't notice anything at all. "I mean, maybe I've been feeling a little depressed from all the crazy stuff happening, but I didn't think it was that bad."

"Well, it's alright to feel a little overwhelmed at everything that's been going on lately. The school's been facing a lot of challenges lately, and it's not unusual that students like you would be stressed." Aranea put her hands together, watching over the boy with a careful eye. "Though, I do have to admit that doesn't seem to be what's bothering you."

Karkat grit his teeth at the (appropriate) observation. He looked away briefly, trying to think up of something.

"Have you ever thought about ghost powers? How they work and stuff?" Okay, not what he wanted to start with, but he could roll with it. "He talks about his work a lot with me, especially when he's talking about a ghosts' powers. One of them kind of stuck with me."

"Which one?" The young woman was already writing things down, which would've irked him if distracting her wasn't the point of all of this.

"Over-" He gulped and corrected himself. "Possession. When a ghost can take over your body and essentially pilot it without warning."

"That's a common ability ghosts share in popular media, I suppose." She didn't seem perturbed by his self-correction. "Why is it any different when your father brings it up, though? Is it because he personally researches them?"

"I guess. It's more that… I had a really disturbing dream after I got home from the dance." Karkat balled his fists in his lap. Dangerous territory, Vantas, what are you doing? "I dreamt I was a ghost. I was mainly messing around with my powers and stuff, trying to figure out how they worked when I found someone I knew. I don't really know who it was now, but I did know that they were doing something wrong. So, I wanted to do something about it."

"I'm guessing as a ghost, you tried to do possess them?" Aranea paused in her writing long enough to turn a page, starting notes anew. "I'm guessing it didn't work?"

"Nah, it worked. It just worked a little too well." Karkat thought over the night again, and while he would've done it again, he couldn't help but think…

_GETOUTEGETOUTGETOUTEGETOUTGETOUTEGETOUTGETOUTEGETOUT_

"When I went into their head, I could feel them trying to push me out. To make sure they weren't under my control. They were screaming at me and I didn't know what to do."

_SHUT UP!_

"So, I just pushed them down. Overwrote anything that made them themselves and made them go quiet." Karkat shook his head, composing himself. "They didn't say a peep after that. If it wasn't for the feeling of overall _fear,_ I would've thought I was only on in control of their body. And that was…"

Possession. He didn't like possession. Tethis would've burned down the entire school if it weren't for him, but he couldn't help but hate how that was the only solution he came up with. But the fact that he overwrote someone completely, only leaving their pure fear in their place, kind of threw him for a loop.

Not to mention how plain horrible it was to be in skin that wasn't your own. Biology that wasn't your own. They were both relatively human, so he thought he knew what to expect, but piloting someone else's meatsuit was just awkward, horrible, and even disturbing.

Aranea frowned at Karkat, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. She tapped her pencil on the table loud enough to jar him from them.

"It sounds to me like you did the good thing here. I don't know what exactly they were doing, but it if it warranted possession, then I assume that it was worth it." Serket twirled her pencil in her hands, frowning deeply. "Though, it is understandable why you feel this way. Dream or not, overriding someone's cognition can be a disturbing experience. But it sounds like the ends justify the means in this situation, so you shouldn't feel guilty in this situation."

"That's not as easy as you think." Karkat shrugged. It was a nice thought, but there was no way in hell she'd understand the scope of all of this. He didn't even know why he bothered to mention it. "I'm probably just blowing this up more then I should, anyway."

"If that makes you feel better, I suppose." Aranea didn't seem happy to leave the subject there, though, judging from her next sentence. "Though before we move on, there's just one more question I want to ask you."

"Go for it." Karkat figured it wouldn't be any weirder than anything else they've talked about.

"Does this 'dream' of yours have anything to do with any of the strange happenings going on about the school?"

…The teen couldn't help but draw a blank at that.

Thankfully, before the panic could set in, she got a notification on her phone. This seemed to throw her off, looking at the phone on her table with disdain. It only increased when she picked it up to unlock it, realizing who the message was from.

"Is she serious- sorry, I'm going to have to cut this short. Family emergency." Aranea picked up the phone, almost angrily, dialing in a number.

Karkat figured that was probably for the best since she looked ready to throw the thing into the wall if he decided to interrupt. He moved slowly out of his seat and out the door when she started to argue with the other person on the line.

"Well, that was a close fucking call." The teen pulled out his own phone, turning on the Ghostian function. It already looked like some of his friends were chatting right now. He clicked on to…

…Why the fuck did Terezi pick _that_ for her typing quirk?

GC: 4ND WH4T 3X4CTLY 1S TH3 FUNCT1ON OF 4 RUBB3R DUCK?

TA: why the fuck do you thiink we know that?

AC: :33 there's no shame in admitting you don't kmeow.

AA: it's n0t that we d0n't kn0w, we just never th0ught ab0ut it bef0re.

Karkat sighed, rolling his eyes as he typed into the chat himself.

CG: NICE TO KNOW THAT ALL OF YOU ARE KEEPING BUSY WITHOUT ME.

GC: K4RKL3S! HOW H4V3 YOU B33N? H3R3 1 W4S, TH1NK1NG YOU W3NT OFF 4ND D1S4PP34R3D ON US.

CG: I CAN BARELY READ WHAT YOU JUST SAID, BUT I'M ASSUMING THAT WAS AN INSULT.

AC: :33 oh, come on karkitty! she just likes messing with people.

GC: Y34H! B3S1D3S, 1T'S D3SP1C4BL3 TO P1CK ON TH3 BL1ND G1RL! SH4M3 ON YOU!

CG: I'M STARTING TO PREFER WHEN YOU WERE TRYING TO LIGHT ME ON FIRE COMPARED TO THIS.

There were a few seconds of silence before Sollux finally decided to join the conversation.

TA: 2o, how wa2 therapy? m2. 2erket'2 doe2n't 2u2pect anythiing, riight?

CG: WHAT KIND OF CHUMP DO YOU TAKE ME FOR? OF COURSE, I DIDN'T TIP HER OFF.

AA: g00d. n0 0ffense t0 her at all, but i always feel 0n edge ar0und her.

AA: that smile 0f hers just makes me feel like she has literal skelet0ns in her cl0set.

AC: :33 i thought you liked skeletons in closets?

GC: TH4T'S TH3 V1B3 1'V3 B33N G3TT1NG TOO.

AA: 0nly in true crime d0cumentaries, n0t in real life.

TA: gettiing back on topiic, ii know how you feel.

TA: ii can't help but feel a biit draiined whenever ii leave her offiice. even iif ii don't 2ay anythiing.

CG: IT'S PROBABLY ALL THE BULLSHIT WE'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH. SHIT GETS TIRING SOMETIMES.

CG: THAT REMINDS ME.

Karkat sent out a quick invite to Horuss and Muelin.

CG: HEY, YOU TWO. JUST WANTED TO KNOW HOW PROGRESS ON THE PORTAL IS GOING.

HZ: 8=D Ah, hello everyone! Progress is going quite nicely, though we've hit a few snags.

ML: ＼(=^..^)/ IT'S STILL GOING ON, THOUGH! YOU'RE DAD DOES WEIRD STUFF WITH HIS WIRING OR SOMETHING.

That was good at least. One less thing to worry about in the long run. Hopefully. They were getting too close on time, though, so he hoped that this progress would continue.

CG: THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR. THANKS FOR THE HELP SO FAR, WE APPRECIATE IT.

AA: we weren't interrupting anything, right?

ML: ＼(=^..^)/ NAH, ME AND HORUSS WERE JUST ABOUT GET INTO A CUDDLE PILE. YOU CAUGHT US JUST IN TIME!

HZ: 8=D Meulin!

GC: TM1, L31JON. TM1.

TA: yeah, what 2he 2aiid.

AA: s0llux, y0u d0n't even kn0w what they're talking ab0ut.

CG: WHATEVER THAT MEANS, WE'LL LET YOU GET ON WITH IT. AGAIN, THANKS.

HZ: 8=D Not a problem. I hope you all have an e day!

ML: ＼(=^..^)/ LATER EVERYONE! REMEMBER NEP, IT'S YOUR TURN TO CATCH DINNER TONIGHT!

AC: :33 got it!

As soon as the two logged off, Sollux sent in a message, this time with a link.

TA: 2iince ii'm a22umiing mo2t of u2 don't have anythiing two do today now that 2chool2 over, ii fiigured we 2hould try 2omethiing diifferent.

AA: is this a c0ncert? i d0n't think i've ever heard 0f this band.

TA: me neiither, but ii've been heariing 2ome decent thiing2. fiigured that we 2hould get one niight two our2elve2 before more 2hiit hiit2 the fan.

AA: g00d p0int. been a while since we've just d0ne s0mething that wasn't gh0st related.

AA: nepeta, terezi, y0u guys want t0 c0me with?

GC: C4N'T, MOM'S B33N ON MY 4SS 4BOUT TH3 4MUL3T TH1NG. ST1LL TRY1NG TO 4VO1D SUSP1C1ON.

AC: :33 still n33d to get dinner tonight. sorry!

Karkat raised an eyebrow, clicking on the link. A digital poster came up on the screen of his phone, an advertisement for a band that, honestly, he'd never heard of before.

The poster itself looked nothing special, a pure white background being used as the backdrop. In the center of the ad, a young woman around his age seemingly floated in the void, long hair floating behind her. Her face was shadowed by her blonde hair, with only a pair of blue eyes staring forward and mouth spewing out white smoke being visible. Wearing a tank top, ripped jeans, and black boots, the only thing her pale skin showed was a web tattoo going down one arm.

The band was called _Scourge Sister,_ written in dark blue letters around the figure with a date and time set for her concert.

CG: CAN'T SAY I'VE HEARD OF HER EITHER. WHY NOT, I'VE GOT NOTHING TO DO TONIGHT ANYWAY.

TA: thank god. well, ii gue22 ii'll 2ee two of you toniight. tz, np, riip.

GC: H4. JUST P1L1NG ON TH3 D34D JOK3S, HUH? H4V3 FUN 4T YOUR W31RD HUM4N CONC3RT.

AC: :33 be safe. danger really loves to follow you guys.

CG: WE'LL TRY. WE'LL MOST LIKELY FAIL, BUT WE'LL TRY.

Karkat sighed and put the phone away. He really hoped that this was going to be a normal concert. He really didn't need to deal with even more ghost crap as is.

…He didn't know why, but he felt like he jinxed himself.

* * *

The meeting place for the concert was an abandoned warehouse. Kind of a strange place to hold it, especially if the band was so popular, but maybe that was their angle. Probably some kind of rebellious angle or something.

Or this was all an elaborate way to rob some teenagers looking for a good time. Karkat wasn't exactly an optimist, so he was definitely making sure to keep an eye out if it was the latter.

"Well, can't say this place looks all that great. Fucks sake, why didn't I do a Google search?" Sollux groaned, kicking at the floor. "I mean, not the worst place in town to hold a concert, but I'm pretty sure none of this is legal."

"Must be a real grunge or underground scene. I'd definitely hold a concert here, but I'm pretty sure the cops wouldn't like it." Aradia moved up beside her friends, inspecting the place for all it's worth. "Hey, didn't we corner that Box Ghost guy here not that long ago? Before we had to deal with tall, dark, and skulky?"

"Don't fucking remind me. The both of them have serious issues." Karkat rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. He turned to them. "Alright, listen to me. This is supposed to be a ghost free zone. At no point do we talk about or event think about anything involved with the undead. As far as we're concerned for tonight, they don't even exist. Are we all clear on this?"

"Crystal." They both saluted, both sarcastic in their own individual ways that signified that they'd be taking this somewhat seriously. They were probably looking forward to having a night without ghost hunting and he honestly hoped that would hold up. He turned to head towards the building.

"What have they been saying about the band, anyway? You didn't really say much after inviting us here." Aradia moved to walk beside Sollux, people watching as they got closer. It seemed like a pretty mixed crowd as far as she could tell, filled with more varying age groups then she was expecting.

"A lot of it was pretty standard stuff, but you got a few creepy ones crawling in. But everyone seems to be saying that she's pretty good, though I couldn't find her songs anywhere online." Sollux shrugged, frowning slightly. "Couldn't really find any negative reviews too. I made sure to check on some things, but nobody's been saying that negative stuff is being deleted, so she could be for real."

"Or have some pretty good lawyers." Karkat remembered the digital flier from earlier. "I'm still hoping this isn't some weird scam. Nobodies even asking for tickets from the looks of it."

"If someone pulls a knife on us, just phase us out of there. It's not like they can hurt a guy that can go through walls." Aradia laughed, hitting Karkat on the back. "Now come on, I wanna hear some good music while I'm here. Can't do that while standing around."

Getting inside of the run-down building, they noted that at least it _looked_ like effort was put in. Decorations and lights were strung about the place, in various colors and styles. Some glowsticks and other items were being handed out by some volunteers for the band.

"Not a bad set up. Looking less like a mugging every minute." Sollux looked over the stage, watching as band members set everything up. "Looks like we got here just in time, too. Hopefully, they don't take too long to start."

"I think the singer's coming on stage right now." Aradia pointed out, seeing someone come on from one side the stage. She blinked before almost rearing back in surprise. "Wait, she kinda looks like Ms. Serket."

"The hell are you talking about?" Karkat looked where she was looking and stopped immediately. "Holy fucking shit."

Aradia didn't seem to be joking when she said that, because he was pretty sure that he was looking at Aranea's younger sister. While she was a littler wirier than Aranea and was, strangely, wearing an eyepatch over her left eye, the resemblance was pretty clear immediately. She also looked exactly like the girl on the poster, which made Karkat wonder why he didn't connect them sooner.

"So, a psychologist and a rockstar in one family." Sollux started off sarcastically, seemingly brushing it all off. "At least if she decides to go off the deep end like they do in _Behind the Music _style,she can get some cheap mental health."

"Well that's just negative, I'm sure she'd be smarter than that. Hopefully." Aradia crossed her arms. She did consider something for a second. "Then again, she's probably wearing that eyepatch for a reason."

"It's probably for show. If this starts to devolve into a bunch of pirate shanty's or something, remind me to fucking bounce." It was still weird for Karkat to see the resemblance, but at least this was something he was familiar with. "Ms. Serket did get a call earlier that pissed her off. Looks like we may have found out why."

Before they could speak any further, a whine came from the speakers coming around them, causing everyone to flinch. It seemed like the microphone had been turned on, evidenced by their entertainer for the night tapping at it impatiently. When it responded to her to her liking, she smiled toothily, blue lipstick shining as she started to speak.

"Well, if it isn't flattering to see a packed house out here tonight." Blue eyes looked over the crowd, leaving most of them silenced. "All of you here just to hear little ol' me? I'm certainly over the moon."

Karkat bristled at the cocky tone but didn't say a word. He didn't know why it irked him so much, though that tone really did set him off.

"I already see a bunch of old faces here, but since I love introducing myself, I might as well anyway." She grabs a guitar that's handed to her by another volunteer, fitting it onto her shoulders. "I'm Vriska Serket. Anyone new here should feel free to remember it, because I doubt it'll be the last time you hear it."

Karkat felt an elbow hit his stomach, Aradia looking proud that she was correct. Sollux and him only huffed, though they nodded in deference to her clear mental superiority. Sollux was already trying to take a video of the concert as well, probably to mess with Aranea later.

"Well, let's not waste too much more time then. I'm on a pretty tight schedule myself, so let's start this shit." Some cheers were met with that declaration as Vriska motioned for the keyboard to start. She sent one more confident smile out. "Now give it up to the _Scourge Sister!_"

**(Readers Play: Rock and Roll Thugs – Icon for Hire)**

Starting out slow, the piano went on the crowd seemed to shift with it, moving slowly. Vriska seemed to get contemplative, manic energy going away all of a sudden. She swayed slightly in front of the microphone, but her voice went out to the crowd smoothly.

"_Oh, the music, is in my blood. You don't understand._

_Oh, the music, is in my blood. You don't understand."_

Karkat actually blinked in surprise at this, surprised at the quality of it. Maybe they'd lucked out after all coming here, an opinion the other two teens seemingly agreed to as they nearly stopped where they stood too.

"_A guitar was added to the melody seconds later._

_Sleepless nights at the black and white keys,_

_I'll let my fingers say it for me,_

_Sometimes my spirit's still so scared."_

Vriska started to up the guitar as the piano began to hype things up.

"_Once I put it in a melody it means so much more to me,_

_Fate sealed, I guess this is how I feel,_

_Sometimes I swear the lyrics write me._

_The lyrics write me."_

The piano and guitar seemingly stopped as she suddenly got close the mic, snarling almost. Karkat almost felt a chill go up his spine as the tension in the room spiked at the pause.

Vriska smirked before starting up the guitar, taking it up to an eleven.

"_Bury all the records in the backyard,_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig them back up!_

_You can bury my body in the backyard,_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig myself up!"_

She moved to the front of the stage, pointing at the crowd as it began to go up in a fervor. The look on her face showed that she loved every second of it.

"_And I know all about the drugs they hide inside the music! _

_I know, I know,_

_I know all about the drugs they hide inside the music!"_

She continued to play the guitar as the chorus died down, causing the audience to cheer. Karkat cheered along with them, surprised at the energy of the crowd as he did so. He laughed hearing Sollux and Aradia cheering loudly beside him. They usually weren't this enthusiastic to bands they've been fans of for years.

As _Scourge Sister_ went into its second verse, that fact made him feel queasy for some reason.

"_And the preacher at church must've told you about them too,_

_Cause you came home dead set on what you had to do._

_You said the demons and drugs hide in rock n roll thugs,_

_If I wanna grow up nice, I better give the music up."_

In a weird way, this verse came out almost in a chant from nearly everyone in the crowd. Even from Sollux and Aradia, something that definitely threw him off. Didn't they only hear about this band today?

"_Bury all the records in the backyard,_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig them back up._

_You can bury my body in the backyard,_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig myself up._

_And I know all about the drugs they hide inside the music, _

_I know, I know,_

_I know all about the drugs they hide inside the music."_

The crowd was in an absolute roar at this point, with Karkat noticing a very troubling fact; everyone's eyes had turned blue. He didn't know when he noticed this, but maybe it was around the time when he looked at Sollux and realized he didn't look so heterochromatic anymore. And that Aradia's brown eyes were shining in a way they certainly shouldn't.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." He mumbled, narrowly dodging as some people began rushing to the front of the stage as Vriska calmed down the song.

"_Oh, the words unwind, my hands rebel,_

_I hide behind these notes too well,_

_I can't pretend anymore."_

The crowd, which Karkat now knew was brainwashed, started stomping in unison.

"_You're not listening, you don't understand._

_You're not listening, you don't understand._

_You're not listening, you don't understand._

_You're not listening, you don't understand."_

Karkat made it a point to grab onto his friends before they moved to the front of the stage. They struggled, Sollux's bony arms poking at any chink in his armor while Aradia was certainly going to leave a couple of bruises on him later. He started to slowly move him to the back of the room.

"_Bury all the records in the backyard,_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig them back up_

_You can bury my body in the backyard,_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig myself up._

_Bury all the records in the backyard_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig them back up._

_You can bury my body in the backyard,,_

_When you're not looking I'll go dig myself up._

_And I know all about the drugs they hide inside the music, _

_I know, I know,_

_I know all about the drugs they hide inside the music."_

The song ended with cheers from the crowd resonating throughout the building. Vriska looked borderline victorious, laughing as everyone started to chant her name in a slowly increasing frequency. She raised her arms and soaked it all in.

Karkat couldn't help but feel like an energy, one that was becoming damningly familiar, was surrounding him at that moment. That it was coalescing and getting stronger with every cheer, with every bit of worship shown to the singer before him.

It was ghostly in nature. Of course it fucking was.

Before the energy could reach a fever pitch, however, the doors of warehouse banged open, revealing several officers standing in the doorway. Everyone turned to them all at once.

One of the older looking ones stepped up, pulling out a megaphone so that the crowd could hear him. _"This is the APPD. I'm going to have to ask you all to leave the premises in an orderly fashion as this concert has gone on without a permit." _He only received a daze murmuring in response. _"If you don't leave the premises, we will be forced to arrest you and check for drugs and alcohol."_

"For crying out loud, I barely got started on my set!" Vriska (or whoever she claimed she was) looked absolutely insulted that she was interrupted. "At least let me get through a couple more songs before you decide to bust us!"

Megaphone-cop didn't seem to care. _"I'm only saying this one more time-"_

"Yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time you fucking pig." Vriska sighed, rolling her eyes. She turned to the crowd, tilting her head and smirking. "Sorry folks, but it looks like the local rent-a-cops are on a power trip. Though, I've got an idea how to make up for all of this!"

The crowd remained silent as Vriska's smirk turned sinister.

"Get them. Anyone who brings a badge to me gets my autograph."

Karkat would swear that this is where things immediately went to shit.

The crowd, as one, dove for the officers, who scrambled back in what he could perceive as fear. Karkat couldn't help but feel glad that Amity Parks police didn't usually carry guns, though the tasers the officers were scrambling to get were most likely not enough.

He gripped onto the struggling Aradia and Sollux even tighter, pulling them to the back wall. He made sure to look around before phasing them through it and throwing them to the ground. As the two got up, he went with his first instinct and slapped them in the face.

Thankfully, it wasn't for naught as they came to their sense. Sollux fell flat on his ass pretty much immediately while Aradia may have slapped him the face right back.

"Ow, fuck's sake Megido!" He wasn't really offended by the slap, but that still didn't mean it hurt. "Get a hold of yourself, it's just me!"

"I know that! Why'd you slap me?" Aradia rubbed at her cheek, irritation clear on her face. It melted away eventually into confusion as she finally got a good look at her surroundings. "Wait, how did you get us outside? Didn't the concert just start?"

"I don't fucking know, but everything hurts right now." Sollux was holding his head, rolling on the ground. "I think I got a headache. Please tell me I didn't have a seizure again. Are the meds not working anymore?"

"You're meds are fine. It just turns out our headliner has fucking ghost powers." This got the two out of their funk, getting them up in arms. Karkat immediately raised his. "I don't know what she did, but she mind controlled anyone that listened to her singing was put under control. I think I kept my own head because of my situation."

"Then I guess you want us to stay out?" Aradia didn't look happy about it, but he could already hear the resignation from her.

"Yeah. Besides, the police are here already. They see you guys; they'll just assume you're a part of the crowd and arrest you on sight." Karkat pulled Sollux up with a quick tug, nearly sending the noodly boy over again. "Vriska sent the whole crowd after the officers and I'd rather nobody got tased or shot. I'll come find you guys after I'm done with her."

"I really don't like that this is becoming a thing." Sollux grabbed Aradia's hand and started walking. "Don't your ass killed while we're gone. If you do, I'll never forgive you."

"I'll make sure to." Karkat immediately transformed into Phantom, turning invisible and going back into the building.

Sollux groaned, ruffling his hair with his hands. "I'm getting fucking refund when all of this is over." He could hear the faint sounds of a fire alarm ring through, most likely Karkat using it to get everyone else in there out of Vriska's control.

"Didn't we get in there for free?"

"…fuck."

* * *

Vriska Serket was figuring that tonight had gone pretty well, despite the cops ruining the party. Directing her "bandmates" into putting the equipment way, she felt a high go through her. Even the repeated calls she was getting didn't seem to annoy her.

She did turn it to silent, though, just so she wouldn't have to hear it.

"Alright people, hurry your asses up!" She barked, strumming her guitar softly. She hummed contently as some of the workers immediately began to work harder. "We got my world debut coming up soon and I'm not going to be late just because you idiots decided to slack off."

She laughed as one of them almost tripped up.

That good mood almost immediately soured when a green light suddenly hit one of the speakers lying on the ground, immediately destroying it.

"Hey- the fuck?!" Vriska jumped off the van she was sitting on, looking around. "Alright, who the fuck did that?! Whoever did it, it's coming out of your nonexistent pay!"

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not on your payroll."

She almost jumped at the echoing voice, looking upwards to find Karkat floating not that far above them. A look of confusion fell across her face as she noticed the hazmat suit, gas mask, sickle, and laser gun.

"You know, dude, it's usually a better idea to find one gimmick and stick with it. I don't know what look you're going for, but I'd suggest switching some things out first." Vriska tilted her head to the side, looking him over again. "I mean, it isn't bad, but I'm pretty sure the little knife thing is going to throw people off."

"Well, I'd be able to worry more about my looks if, you know, ghosts like you didn't decide to send people to almost get _shot."_ Karkat twirled the sickle, anger oozing out of him. "You're lucky all it took was setting of the sprinklers to the place to get everyone to calm down. If I hadn't, people would've died."

"None of those idiots had guns. I actually do my research asshole, and last I checked, they do their shit the British way." The blonde rolled her eyes, adjusting the guitar a little to stay in front of her.

"Yeah but being tased and pepper sprayed could still cause a lot of fucking damage." Karkat brought out the ecto-gun slowly, pointing it at her. "I'm going to ask you this only once; come quietly, or I'm giving you a one-way ticket to hell."

"As adorably corny as that is, I'm going have to decline. Too many irons in the fire, you see?" She turned to the workers, waving them off. "Get the shit out of here. I'll catch up after I deal with this asshole."

As the workers did so, Karkat narrowed his eyes, upping the power on the ecto-gun. "Last chance, Serket. This doesn't have to end in a fight."

"Oh, that's too bad." Vriska smiled grew big as she took off the eyepatch, showing an eye with seven different pupils. Smoke came out Karkat's gas mask as her skin turned blueish in color and she rose above the earth and strummed her guitar menacingly. "I'd _love _if this ended in a fight."

As a few notes started to play, Karkat immediately felt his skin crawl as the temperature dropped.

This was going to be a nightmare, wasn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about leaving things on a cliffhanger, but I'm making sure to keep the pacing of the story right.
> 
> So, yeah, Vriska is Ember in this AU. This probably comes as a surprise to no one. Have to admit, she's a slightly different character then what I've written so far, which will be further explored as more chapters are sent out. I think you'll like what I do with her in the near future.
> 
> Also, more playlists! This time, it's focusing on Sollux and Aradia and I've had them prepared for a while now. I probably won't make anymore unless requested or I get a bit of inspiration on one of my stories. It's just fun exploring the personalities of the character through song!
> 
> Aradia: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2StwmChR8gchiRcPSVh0c8
> 
> Sollux: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1W2YU1yHHXx7917dXelOu9
> 
> Anyway, feel free to comment/review and have a good day everyone!


	15. My Sister's Keeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, sorry to keep you waiting folks! Hope that it didn't take me too long to get this out there, but I wanted to make sure it had a proper conclusion. There's still one more part to this little arc, but I think you'll enjoy it.
> 
> Either way, nothing serious to report for now, so might as well get on with the story. Hope you enjoy!

Karkat figured doing the superhero schtick would lead to him fighting some weird enemies down the line. Admittedly, dragons weren't at the top of the list of things he'd expected to fight, but it was a good wake-up call. He was probably going to fight a wide variety of people with different intentions in mind.

He still didn't expect a _musical_ villain, though. That was certainly different.

The fight had started, predictably, with Vriska slamming down on her guitar, the strings going wild as an ecto-blast flew towards him. Dodging to the side, he avoided the actual blast, but was still hit by the sound. It practically deafened him for a few seconds as it passed by.

"Jeez, is it too late to request the old stuff?" He raised the ecto-gun firing a few shots at her to prevent another blast. "The new stuff sounds like shit!"

"I'd be happy to play some of the old stuff if you hadn't destroyed some of my shit!" Vriska swerved away from blasts, floating around cockily. "You know expensive speakers are? Pretty expensive if you don't steal them like I did!"

Karkat, mentally adding theft as another crime to her list, flew downward to avoid another blast. "Why am I not surprised? You have one of your friends steal it for you?"

Vriska hummed, sending blast after blast every time she strummed a guitar string. "Maybe. Pretty easy when you got the skills I do." She flew up a few inches higher, smirk getting wider. "Then again, a pretty face like mine can get people to do anything I want."

"I'm pretty that's just mind control. You're face has nothing to do with it." Karkat stuck close to the ground, dodging the blasts. Each one got closer every time. "Even if it was, I'm pretty I'm going to fix that pretty soon."

He suddenly swung upward, twisting his body kicking her in the chin. He followed it up with a blast sent directly at her chest. The blows seemingly surprised her, sending her back a fair ways away. When she stopped, her rubbed her jaw, wiping off some ectoplasm that fell from her lips.

"Well," She adjusted the guitar and messed with it, as if to tune it. "Guess we're getting serious now. Bring it!"

Karkat started to realize that she may have been going easy on him at first when a few ecto-blasts were sent his way. He dodged a few, but one grazed at his side and almost burned his suit. Hissing from the pain, he focused more on flying erratically and spreading her fire.

She didn't let up for a second, a devilish melody playing from the guitar. She seemed to enjoy his struggling, laughing it up from her little position in the sky.

Karkat attempted to go down again, hoping it'd buy him some time, but a wave of ice almost hit when he did. He looked up, noting the blue glow coming from Vriska's hands.

"Ice powers?! Are you fucking kidding?!" He dodged another wave of ice, sharp edges almost piercing him that time. "You got any other tricks to pull out of your ass?"

"Try and impress me. Maybe you'll find out!" When Karkat tried going back up again, she started playing her guitar with fervor. "If you can't keep up with this, you might want to back off now."

"Fat fucking chance!" Karkat did think that a tactical retreat would be good, especially since he didn't have any viable backup. Plus, unless he gained a speed boost or some extra stamina, he couldn't dodge the blasts forever. The ice presented a completely different problem.

Then again, it took her a few seconds to switch between the two. Not exactly conducive or not enough practice? Guess he'd figure out.

He dived again, but as soon as she whipped her hand out, he sent a shot at her. It hit her in the chest, damaging her even further. The wave of ice was sloppier this time, forming farther away from his position.

After she sent a few more, Karkat suddenly went up, firing a few shots before she could change it up. These hit her even harder, causing her to stop fully and pull back. Before she could recover, he got close and punched her in the gut with the but end of his sickle.

Vriska growled. Guess it was time for her to change tactics.

Before another shot was fired, she turned the guitar around, swinging it at him. This actually caught Karkat off guard, causing him to raise his hands out of instinct. He took the full force of the hit, gravity taking over as he nearly hit the ground.

"You know, just because that's new doesn't mean it's impressive." He couldn't help but let out a chuckle despite the pain in his arms. He was definitely going to feel that in the morning. "Any idiot can hit me with a guitar. Even twelve-year old's can. And they will if you piss them off enough."

"It does seem like you have a face that would make them cry. That why you wear a gas mask?" Vriska looked about ready to hit him again. She stopped though, tilting her head before frowning. "God damnit, the cops are coming."

Karkat took a moment to pause too, listening. He heard the sound of sirens coming from the distance, most likely to arrest anyone that hadn't already fled the scene. He really hoped that Aradia and Sollux got out of there when they could.

"Well, as much as I'd like to reach the climax here," Vriska startled him out of his thoughts, putting him back on the defensive. "But I can't have any more fun for now. Don't worry, you'll get an encore soon enough."

"Wait," His hand inched toward the thermos, trying to stall so he could catch her by surprise. "Isn't this a little unsatisfying? The fight was just getting good."

"Oh, trust me, I know." She actually almost sounded disappointed before another smile covered it up. "But I can't be interrupted again. Big plans coming up and I can't afford to be seen like this. See you later~!"

Karkat pulled out and uncapped the thermos, but it was too slow as the beam only hit the cold air left in her wake. He cursed loudly, putting the thermos back on his belt. Would it kill him to solve the problem during the first fight?

"Probably," He muttered to himself, ruffling his hair and looking at the red and blue lights that seemed to grow brighter with each passing second. He figured he might as well disappear too. Not like the police can arrest a ghost anyway.

He automatically reached for his ecto-gun but stopped after noting it wasn't there. Karkat's eyes instantly shifted towards the ground before finding it smashed into pieces.

That last blow must've hit the damn thing and shattered it.

"Fuck," He groaned. "How am I going to explain this to dad?"

* * *

"_Nobody is sure what led to the riot at the warehouse district, but police have been able to dismiss that it was due to drugs or alcohol. While many of the concert goers claim they don't remember attacking police, nothing came up in urinalysis. Either way, this only adds to the rising notoriety of Scourge Sister singer, Vriska-"_

Karkat immediately changed the channel, groaning at the soreness of his arms. They brought the little mini television down to the lab, but he was starting to regret as every single news station was talking about last night. About Vriska.

He was getting really tired of hearing that name.

"You know, I'd think that someone like her wouldn't want to have this kind of attention, but I have a feeling she's _loving_ this." Aradia glared at the next news report that showed Vriska's face. There was rustling as she went through his dad's equipment, obviously trying to find something of use. "Doesn't even care that I had to explain to my parents last night that I didn't almost go nuts on a police officer."

"At least your parents didn't give you the riot act and almost check you for drugs. I almost thought my dads were going to turn on a PSA before I went to bed." Sollux himself was doing some online research, hands flitting through over the keys expertly. "Couldn't even sleep much since Serket's mind raping gave me a migraine afterward."

"Least you didn't have to fight her. Turns out she's murder with that guitar." Karkat flexed his muscles again and, yeah, they were definitely still sore. Nothing was broken, but he did have a few bruises he had to explain away from his dad. "Anything coming up from you guys? I haven't heard anything from our friends in the Ghost Zone."

"Nothing much. I found a perfect place to hide that ecto-gun she broke, but it looks like you got plenty of things to replace it." Aradia looked at a lipstick tube that glowed green before scrunching up her face and moving it aside. "Though we'll probably need to keep the thermos safe. Can't really replace that."

"I've gotten plenty of information on Vriska's music career. Turns out, last night was part of a _very_ recent trend." Sollux looked over a few video's, silence just in case her mind control worked through technology. "She's only done this once before in a town over. Luckily, no one got hurt, but maybe this means she's not always like this."

"She didn't look obsession-crazy. She seemed pretty into fighting my ass." Karkat definitely remembered Horuss acting very differently than how Vriska did. It didn't add up. "I don't know if that kind of thing is different from ghost to ghost, but that doesn't mean we can just let her do whatever she wants."

Aradia poked her head over some boxes. "You said that she had something in the works, right?" Her tone and the reminder of said warning set all of them on edge. Receiving a nod from Karkat, she continued. "I did hear that that the local television station was planning some event soon. You think that could be her?"

"I looked that up myself and didn't find a name. But I'm not counting that out as a coincidence." Captor rubbed at his eyes, yawning. "I can hack into the security systems and see how far they're broadcasting, but I have no idea if I can do anything to disrupt it. That shit kinda requires high grade stuff I don't think I can get on the fly."

A ding from Karkat's phone went off, startling everyone. He sighed, bringing it up. "Maybe the ghosts know what to do so we don't have to."

Looking down at this phone, he read over the new messages on the screen carefully. Only Nepeta and Terezi had responded.

AC: :33 karkitty, what's up? everything alright?

GC: WHY DO 1 F33L L1K3 YOU GOT 1N TROUBL3 4G41N?

Karkat sighed, rolling his eyes before typing in his reply.

CG: AS MUCH AS I WANT TO DISPUTE THAT, I CAN'T.

CG: ANOTHER GHOST POPPED UP AND SHE'S DECIDED TO RAISE HELL.

GC: YOU KNOW, YOU COULD M3SS4G3 US ONC3 1N 4 WH1L3 OUTS1D3 OF 4 CR1S1S, R1GHT?

GC: 1 M34N, YOU DON'T N33D 4 R34SON OR 4NYTH1NG.

AC: :33 she has a point, karkitty.

CG: IT'S NOT LIKE I WANT TO ONLY CALL YOU GUYS WHEN SHIT HITS THE FAN. IT JUST HAPPENS.

CG: WE'RE GETTING OFF TRACK. WE'RE DEALING A GHOST ROCKSTAR WHO'S CONTROLLING PEOPLE'S MINDS AND MIGHT BE PLANNING SOME SHIT.

GC: W41T, S3R1OUSLY? TH4T'S 4CTU4LLY PR3TTY S3R1OUS.

AC: :33 do you got a picture? maybe we'll recognize her.

Karkat brought up a picture he'd found on the internet, sending it into the chat. There was a moment of silence before they called it in.

AC: :33 okay, i've never s33n her befure. terezi?

GC: N3V3R. SH3 OBV1OUSLY MUST'V3 GOTT3N OUT OF TH3 1NF1N1T3 R34LMS 4T SOM3 PO1NT.

GC: 4ND YOU S41D SH3 C4N CONTROL M1NDS?

CG: HUMAN ONES, AT LEAST. I'M APPARENTLY IMMUNE DUE TO MY GHOST POWERS.

CG: ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO TAKE HER DOWN? WE'RE KINDA STRUGGLING HERE.

AC: :33 is there any sign that her obsession took over?

CG: SHE SEEMED IN CONTROL OF HERSELF, BUT SHE'S ONLY RECENTLY DECIDED TO CAUSE ANY TROUBLE. NOTHING LIKE HORUSS.

AC: :33 obsessions can come out in many ways, and so does a how someone goes nuts over them.

GC: 4ND S1NC3 SH3 MOST L1K3LY DO3SN'T H4V3 4 MO1R41L, TH3N TH3R3 M1GHT NOT B3 4 W4Y TO C4LM H3R DOWN.

GC: 4NY 1D34 WH4T SH3'S PL4NN1NG TO DO? MUS1C 4ND M1ND CONTROL, 1'M 4SSUM1NG H3R MUS1C 1S WH4T'S BR41NW4SH1NG P3OPL3.

AC: :33 she might also be getting stronger. maybe she gets power from people ch33ring her name or something.

Karkat couldn't help but feel a pit of dread form in his stomach. That actually made a good deal of sense. He didn't know what exactly her source of power was but getting praise or attention might be what causes her to get more powerful. Hell, that was probably half the reason why she did those concerts.

And if they were right about her trying to get up on live television, then that would definitely reach some people. And some videos were already online…

CG: DO THOSE KINDS OF POWERS WORK THROUGH BROADCASTING? SHE ALREADY HAS SOME VIDEO'S ONLINE.

GC: 1T PROB4BLY ONLY WORKS ON L1V3 BRO4DC4ST1NG. 1F TH3Y WORK3D OV3R ONL1N3 V1D3O, YOU'D 4LR34DY B3 SCR3W3D.

AC: :33 that's true! if she does it on tv or livestream, then you should worry.

The ghost boy felt his anxiety ebb away at that. That was one less thing to worry about, he guessed.

CG: SO, WE GOTTA JUST BREAK INTO A TELEVISION STATION, TAKE OUT A POSSIBLY POWERFUL GHOST, AND HOPE NO ONE CATCHES US?

CG: SOUNDS DOABLE.

GC: 1 R34LLY C4N'T T3LL 1F YOU'R3 B31NG S4RC4ST1C.

AC: :33 maybe try and avoid a fight? if you have to, go all out, but maybe someone could talk her down.

Karkat put the phone in his lap, frowning. Who the hell would they be able to find to stop Vriska from doing something stupid?

…Wait a minute, he was being a dumbass. He almost forgot about Aranea!

CG: WAIT, I THINK I KNOW SOMEBODY! I THINK SHE HAS A LIVING RELATIVE IN TOWN THAT I COULD TALK TOO, UNLESS IT'S SOME FREAKY COINCIDENCE THEY SHARE A NAME.

GC: R34LLY? 4ND YOU D1DN'T M3NT1ON H3R UNT1L NOW?

CG: SHUT UP, I'VE BEEN UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE. THINGS ARE NUTS RIGHT NOW AND I HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO THINK STRAIGHT.

AC: :33 get to her. she might be your best bet.

CG: ONE LAST QUESTION; IF THINGS GO SOUTH, DO YOU THINK YOU TWO WOULD BE ABLE TO GET OUT HERE TO HELP?

CG: IF WE CAN'T FIND ANYTHING TO MAKE PREVENT SOLLUX AND ARADIA FROM BEING BRAINWASHED AGAIN, I MEAN.

AC: :33 i don't kmeow. i've b33n trying to k33p your existence a secret from mom. she might wonder where i'm going all the time.

GC: M1N3 TOO. SH3 DO3SN'T KNOW MUCH 4BOUT WH4T H4PP3N3D W1TH M3 B3C4US3 1'D R4TH3R NOT S3ND H3R ON 4 W4RP4TH.

CG: WAIT, YOU GUYS ARE KEEPING ME A SECRET? WHY? I'M NOT DANGEROUS.

There were a few beats of silence where the other two didn't respond. Karkat was wondering if something happened to the connection before the ding of another notification appeared on his phone.

GC: H4LF4'S 4 TOUCHY SUBJ3CT 4ROUND H3R3. 4ND 4 ON3 TH4T M1GHT C4TCH 4TT3NT1ON.

AC: :33 no one really kmeows much about them and the fact they're half human sets them on edge. we figured you'd be safer if they didn't kmeow.

Karkat blinked at that, something fluttering into his chest. Halfa's?

CG: ARE YOU SAYING THERE'S OTHER PEOPLE LIKE ME? WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE?!

GC: L1K3 W3 S41D, 1T'S 4 TOUCHY SUBJ3CT. TH3R3'S 4 LOT OF CONTROV3RSY 4ROUND 1T 4ND T3LL1NG P3OPL3 WOULD PUT 4 T4RG3T ON YOUR B4CK.

AC: :33 you're also the only halfa we kmeow exists. some probably existed befure you, but we don't kmeow if there are any actual ones around.

That was a fucking punch to the gut if he heard one. He wasn't the first of his kind, but he might be the only one around as far as he knew. Maybe if he found one, he'd feel less like a freak. But it looks like they didn't know much more then what they told him.

CG: YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS ANOTHER TIME. I'M GOING TO TRY AND GET THIS SHIT OVER WITH. THANKS FOR THE HELP SO FAR.

AC: :33 you're welcome! don't be afraid to call again if you n33d any more help.

GC: 4CTU4LLY, C4N 1 R3QU3ST SOM3TH1NG? S1NC3 1 H3LP3D 4ND 4LL, 1 F33L L1K3 SHOULD G3T SOM3TH1NG 1N R3TURN.

CG: SURPRISING. FINE, SHOOT. WHAT'S YOUR REQUEST?

GC: COM3 1NTO TH3 1NF1N1T3 R34LMS WH3N YOU'R3 DON3 W1TH TH1S.

Karkat straightened up at that, blinking at the screen. Before he could reply, Nepeta jumped in with her own commentary.

AC: :33 terezi, you can't just ask him that! a little warning would be nice.

GC: 1'M NOT S4Y1NG H3 ST4YS FOR3V3R OR SOM3TH1NG! 1 JUST TH1NK H3 N33DS TO G3T TO KNOW OUR D1M3NS1ON. H3 N33DS TO G3T 1N TOUCH H1S ROOTS S1NC3 H3'S H4LF GHOST.

AC: :33 okay, yeah, that's true. but we can't furce him!

Karkat could already tell this was going to devolve into a fight if he didn't respond fast enough. He took a deep breath before typing in his response.

CG: I'LL THINK ABOUT IT. I'M NOT GOING TO PROMISE ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, THOUGH.

GC: TH4T'S 4LL 1 4SK. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR 4SS-K1CK1NG M1SS1ON.

AC: :33 make sure to call us if you n33d backup! maybe we can think up of something to distract our parents.

CG: WE WILL. STAY SAFE OUT THERE.

Karkat sighed, putting the phone away. He looked at his friends, eyebrow raised. "Tomorrow's Thursday, right? When's that television thing?"

"Friday. We'll have to hope she shows up before then." Sollux rubbed his eyes, moving away from his computer. It was starting to get late. "We should probably get some rest, though. Can't find a ghost on a shit amount of sleep."

"Yeah, I need to get back home too. Dad and Heido did get spooked last night about the concert and I'd rather not test anything." Aradia stretched. They could all hear some bones crack. "I'll focus on finding stuff to prevent her from influencing us tomorrow. You got any plans?"

The ghostly teen frowned heavily, sighing as he slouched in his seat. "I'm going to get some counseling."

God, why did his life have to be like this?

* * *

Karkat realized one thing as he stood outside Aranea's office after school ended; he had no fucking clue what he was going to say.

On one hand, most likely she already knew about her sister being around. Sure, that meant she knew something was going terribly wrong and hadn't done anything about it, but he figured that he could at least convince her to help or guilt trip her into it.

On the other, there was a frank possibility she didn't know or was in complete denial about the situation. Admittedly, he felt like that was the lower possibility considering Vriska's face had been all over television lately, but it was still completely possible. If he walked in there and told her that her sister was a ghost planning on taking over people's minds, she'd have a complete breakdown.

Of course, he couldn't back off now. It was an honestly pressing concern that, if he left alone, could lead to something disastrous down the line. Plus, he was curious about Vriska was able to hide her ghost signature from him with that eyepatch, and he figured that Aranea was the most likely person to know how.

Karkat sighed deeply, glancing up and down the hallway. No camera's and no people around.

Good. That means they wouldn't be interrupted.

He knocked on the door lightly. It didn't take long for Aranea to tell him to come inside, followed by a shuffling of paperwork. He opened it up to see the office a slight mess, but Aranea almost looking like she had an energy drink infused with coffee grounds. It would've been frightening, but he'd seen worse at this rate.

"Mr. Vantas?" Despite looking particularly cheerful, her confusion was apparent. "I didn't expect to see you here today. Just finished with my last appointment, so definitely don't remember you being on the list."

Yeah, he saw the last person. He was pretty sure that was Xefros, that freshman who started a band early that year. Apparently, he and this Dammek guy were having some issues from what he knew. The kid came out of the room exhausted for some reason, probably talking over everything with her.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Just something I wanted to talk about." He gestured to the chair awkwardly. "Do you have time or…?"

"No, go right ahead." She straightened some things out before sitting in her own seat. "A surprise visit isn't a bad thing. You're always welcome to stop on by."

That probably wouldn't last long, Karkat thought to himself. He took a seat all the same. "You remember what we talked about last time? About the possession thing?"

It seemed to be right sendoff point since she lit up a little, intrigue apparent. "Yes, you brought up a few things that were admittedly concerning. I'm guessing you've had some form of breakthrough."

"You could say that." Karkat drummed his fingers nervously on the desk, looking away. "I guess you could say that I saw what it was like from the outside. Possession, I mean."

"You have?" Intrigue turned to concern, eyes moving over him as to reassess his behavior. "Would you care to elaborate?"

Karkat licked his lips. It was now or never.

"It started at a concert…"

* * *

"Hey, Sollux? Did Spades ever keep some kind of inventory thing for the armory?" Aradia kicked around another box, huffing. "He's got to, right? I mean, he's got to keep track of this somehow."

"I think you're overestimating how much forward thinking he does." Sollux was still frantically searching things up on his computer. He was closing in on something, he could feel it. "I mean, he made a portal to an alternate dimension to prove ghosts exist and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what to do with that."

"Just because that's true doesn't mean you have to say it!" There was a loud cluttering before joy spread throughout the lab. "Found it! Let's see, hearing stuff is on shelf four…"

Sollux rolled his eyes fondly, though if anyone would've claimed to have seen it, he would've denied. He went back to researching on Serket as much as he could.

It was only after hitting the twentieth page on Google did he actually find something. A news article from another small town that he'd never heard of. It looked like it came from the late 1990's and early 2000's as far as he could tell since it wasn't dated.

He shrugged. It was as good a source as any.

Clicking on it, he heard the shuffling of boxes cease as Aradia moved over, carrying several headphones that looked almost like AirPods. She looked at them curiously as he read the article.

"I found these, and it looks like Slick actually left some instructions on them. Said they're supposed to drown out 'ghostly influence,' or something." She picked one out and fiddled with it. As she scrutinized the accessory, she took a brief glance to the screen. "Found something?"

"Yeah. Turns out Vriska isn't a native ghost. Even have her picture up right here." He turned the screen towards her so she could see it. "It's kinda sad, actually. Apparently she was coming back from a cancelled gig before going missing in a snowstorm. Didn't find her body until spring."

Aradia couldn't help but recoil a bit seeing the picture of Vriska as a human. "Wow, I think she's the only other ghost then the lunch lady that we know was a human. Kind of disturbing actually." She looked at Sollux, getting pensive. "You don't think we'll get used to this, right? Finding ghosts that were alive at some point?"

Sollux winced. That was actually a hard question. "I don't really _want_ to get used to it, honestly. I mean, Vriska seems like she's a bastard right now, but knowing she was alive at one-point kinda fucks me up a bit. I'd be pretty angry if I died before I could legally drink and then have to stay that age forever."

"Yeah. Who knows, maybe that's why she's doing all of this!" She waved her hands in the air dramatically, gesturing wildly. "This is all due to teenage angst extended to over twenty years of stagnation! I'd go nuts too and have people scream my name if I had to go through puberty indefinitely."

The boy snickered. The laughter died down when he caught eyes with the picture again, Vriska's angry gaze looking into his own. "I'm guessing if she died this early, Aranea might be her younger sister. Maybe we can use her if Karkat can talk her into it."

"He does have a pretty good track record when it comes to convincing people to do things." Aradia shrugged, knowing the change in topic was forced. She let it slide in order to keep messing with the weird green headphones Slick designed. "Should probably look her up to, see if anything checks out."

Since it seemed like a good idea, Sollux made sure to open another tab. Typing up the counselor's name, he actually got something on the first hit.

"Hey, I actually got something for once. Standard social media shit, but at least it's personal stuff." He scrolled down and noticed that her name was attached to another article. "Looks like she featured in a fluff piece too."

"Probably about her graduation or something. Probably said something in her valedictorian speech, because of course she would be, about her sister." Aradia looked up from her ministrations, only to see Sollux's face had turned blank while she was speaking. "Is something wrong?"

The Captor only gulped, leaning back from the Computer almost as if it had tried to attack him.

"We need to call Karkat." He said finally before almost dropping his phone as he pulled it out of his pocket. "Now."

* * *

"A concert?" Aranea's face twisted at the word. Karkat noticed it before she wiped it off her face, the pleasant smile on her face forcing its way back. "Interesting. What happened?"

Karkat figured that mean she knew something, but he couldn't just say it outright. He just needed to draw things out a little bit.

"It's hard to say honestly. It was during this weird little moment when the band was playing onstage and I can't really get it out of my head." Karkat could've laughed at that. It was true, especially since he had Vriska's song on repeat. "Everyone there just kinda… I don't know if _froze_ is the right word, but I think it's close."

"Are you sure that just wasn't them enjoying the music?" Aranea's voice almost sounded nervous, though it was masked pretty well. "I've heard about that. Some people I know happen to get lost into music quite easily."

"Yeah, if that was one or two people." He scoffed, brushing off the excuse. "Pretty much everyone there stopped what they were doing and stared at her the entire time. In a trance. It was almost creepy."

Aranea did shrug at that. It would've looked casual if the tightness of her shoulders hadn't given something away. "At least it wasn't actual possession, right? I mean, that would silly."

Karkat almost responded to that with sass, but that response did make him realize that skirting around the problem was going to lead nowhere. Aranea clearly knew something and must've made some conclusions that were probably close to being correct. And she, quite obviously, wasn't going to start talking about it herself.

He really didn't want to do this…

"That's funny you say that, actually." Karkat looked her right in the eyes, voice becoming firm. "It seemed like it was when I had to slap my friends in the face before they attacked the police."

If Aranea hadn't been tense before, she certainly was now. She was gripping a pencil in her hands hard enough to bend it, but not break it entirely. She wasn't meeting his eye, staring down at the hardwood of her desk.

"I was going to ask if you knew anything about Vriska Serket, but it looks like I don't." The ghostly teen leaned back into his chair, feeling surprisingly calm. It was a new feeling for him considering how stressed he normally was. "Probably would've saved me time if I didn't know I had to work around it."

"How much do you know, exactly?" She actually looked up into his own eyes this time. Her expression was unreadable, controlled like every other aspect of her personality. It was strange to see that on an authority figure.

"Enough to know that Vriska's a ghost and clearly not thinking straight." When she didn't react to the ghost comment, he looked at her curiously. "And that you apparently knew that since the beginning."

"What do you want?" The frustration in Aranea's tone almost surprised him, though he figured that this was a sore spot. Dead relative coming back and going through with an evil plan wasn't something that elicited friendly interactions, he supposed. "I don't know if you're trying to blackmail me, but I highly doubt that you could prove-"

"Hey." He raised a hand, stopping her before the rant could start. "I don't want anything of yours or from Vriska. I just want some help stopping her from brainwashing anyone. I don't know how much you know about that-"

"I do know." She sighed and slouched in her own chair. She looked positively exhausted, though relieved. "I'm trying to get her to stop, alright? My sister's just going through a rough patch right now and I'm trying to stop whatever she's doing. I just need a little bit of time."

"I think we both know that we don't _have_ any time, Ms. Serket." Karkat felt a pang of guilt at the harshness of his tone. He didn't want to pressure her at all, but her sister (which _holy shit,_ that was fucked up) was playing a dangerous game here. "You know that little television shit going on? That's tomorrow, and I have a feeling someone is going to try and capitalize on that."

"How do you- you know, what never mind." The young woman looked frazzled, almost panicked. "I promise I can get her to stop before then, she just needs a bit of guidance. I understand that she's abusing her powers a bit, but I'm in control of this situation."

"A bit?" He couldn't help but be offended by that. "Your sister almost got people killed that night! She made them attack several policemen! You're lucky they weren't feeling trigger happy and willing to waste a few people while they were under her control!"

While he was beginning to get into his own rant when his phone began to buzz. With a significant amount of annoyance, he pulled out the cursed thing and looked about ready to chuck it out the window before noticing the notifications. They were coming from the Ghostian app.

He opened up the thing, about ready to tell whoever it was to shut up before he read the last message sent to him. It was from Sollux.

TA: kk, get out of there! ii found an artiicle on her and her 2ii2ter!

TA: 2he'2 a gho2t two!

Karkat's gaze immediately went back to Aranea's in alarm, meeting pure blue eyes and…

…He couldn't move. _Why the fuck couldn't he move?_

"Sorry about that, Mr. Vantas." Aranea let out a deep sigh, almost legitimately sounding sorry for this. "But you were getting very close and I can't let you do anything that might get my sister hurt. Your father is a ghost hunter and I'd rather she didn't end up on a dissection table."

She's a ghost, Karkat thought to himself, still paralyzed. Of course. Probably working as Vriska's partner or something. She caught him unaware and now he was stuck.

Aranea moved out of her seat. She plucked his phone out of his hands and put into one of his pockets. "It really isn't your fault any of this is happening. If anything, it's Vriska's. We had this whole routine that made sure no one was hurt, but now she's gotten greedy." She took out a phone of her own. "Speaking of which, you wouldn't mind if I made a call? Of course you wouldn't, you seem pretty busy."

Karkat twitched, but he couldn't move much more than that. How could he have been so _stupid._ Even if she wasn't a ghost, it was probably a stupid idea to come here alone. And they were working together the whole time, which was so much fucking worse.

A couple of beeps behind him and he heard a phone ring. When the ringing stopped and somebody picked up, Vriska's voice rang out.

"_If this is about the concert, I've already apologized enough as it is."_ She sounded annoyed. The strums of a guitar with several notes being played could be heard lowly in the background. She was most likely tuning it. _"Not my fault some pigs decided to crash the party."_

"I think I have a right to complain after you _wrecked our routine!"_ Aranea replied in a quiet shout. Karkat couldn't help but think about it being a complete 180 compared to her usual behavior. Or maybe that wasn't how she really acts at all? "You do remember that we agreed I'd have a month before you decided to come in. It's barely been two weeks!"

"_Two weeks is plenty!"_ Vriska's indignant reply made their argument sound more like a sisterly spat rather than… _whatever_ all of this was. _"It's not my fault you can't suck out enough depression from people before I come up on the scene. Maybe you need to be a little less picky."_

"I _have_ to be picky! Do you know how bad it looks if a student's depression gets worse after a counselor is hired?" Aranea almost physically stopped herself, a deep breath being taken before continuing. "You know what? We'll talk about that later. Something else has come up."

The two continued talking as Karkat soaked in that troubling piece of information. Suck up depression? The fuck was that supposed to mean?

…Then a thought entered his head, a bullet of inspiration shooting through him. Vriska is an emotion eater. She can soak up the praise and attention of the masses. She had to do that by doing concerts.

_(causing riots, hurting people, going mad with too much power)_

Aranea eats depression. She works as a school counselor, talking to the kids. Teenagers are full of angst, hormones, hosts of emotional problems figuring out themselves. Perfect place to eat negative emotions. Said it might cause them to feel even worse.

_(Xefros was here before him, looked depressed, looked hurt, what did she DO to him)_

They've been doing this a while. Probably going from town to town, city to city to make sure nobody catches on. Is this the first time Vriska went nuts? Has Aranea gone to far before? What happens when she does?

_(not in his town, not in his town, not in his town, not where his friends are, where his FAMILY)_

Karkat saw red.

"…And another thing- wait," Aranea sniffed the air, rant paused as she registered a burning smell. "What the hell is that?"

Before she could receive a response, she was hit in the back by a blast of green energy, throwing her into a wall. She hit it like a rag doll, causing the paint to crack in many different places. He phone had been thrown to the side.

"_Aranea?"_ Vriska sounded worried now, panic seeping into her voice. _"Is something wrong? For fucks sake, answer me!"_

Aranea's only response was a grown as she tried getting up. Whatever had hit her did a good job of knocking some things loose.

She could faintly hear some footsteps moving around the office. She saw her phone get picked up from the periphery of her vision, snatching it up before she could tell whose it was.

"_**She'll have to call you back."**_

The voice set her on edge immediately, making her force herself up quicker. Aranea got to see her phone be turned to ashes as a hand, covered in green ecto-energy, crushed, and burned it.

It didn't take long for her to see the face of who it was.

Karkat Vantas, hands alight with terrible power and eyes a pupil less red, stared down at her with pure, unadulterated wrath.

"_**If you don't mind," **_He said, eyes narrowing as a stream of smoke escaped from his lips. _**"I'd like if we continued our consultation now."**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've really got to stop leaving this on cliff hangers. I'm not going to make it a habit, but it seems to be a new trend for me that I'd like to stop.
> 
> Other then that, I do wonder if I should make a side story series about this. I don't have any serious plans for now, but if I do start making drabbles around this universe, feel free to say whether you'd like to see them or not. If I post anything, I'll make sure to notify you guys next time I update.
> 
> Thank you and have a good day!


	16. Final Chorus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the final chapter dealing with this particular arc! Hope you all enjoy, especially since this after the next two-chapter arc, we'll be heading into new territory. If you're following the episode list closely, you'll know what I'm talking about.
> 
> Also, if you haven't heard already, I've got updated the drabble series. Feel free to check it out and request a drabble if you feel like you want to know more about something. It'll continue to be updated randomly.

Karkat knew things had gotten out of control. It was a very clear concept.

This was supposed to be a calm conversation. One where he got answers and he figured out a solution to all of this. Stop Vriska, calm her down if possible, and lower the property damage to hopefully zilch. Aranea would possibly be the key to that and, maybe, be a possible adult he could talk to in a situation like this. Possibly even understand how ghostly psychology works from someone who may have worked closely on one.

But no. She had to not only be a ghost too, but one preying on people in _**his**_town. On _**his**_people. Possibly _**his **_friends. Using teenage angst to fuel herself and possibly cause irreversible damage if she went overboard.

So, he knew this situation had gotten out of control. But he didn't fucking care.

"_**You're going to tell me where Vriska is and what you're doing to my town." **_Karkat felt the ecto-energy flare in his hands to emphasis his point. _**"Now."**_

"Ok, I know how this looks," All the bravado and irritation were gone from Aranea as she slowly backing away from the teen standing before her. "None of this was supposed to happen this way. We were just supposed get into town, get what we need, and get out."

"_**By sucking out their misery?" **_Karkat took a step forward, growling. Smoke continued to billow out of his mouth, the smell taking over the room. _**"Mind controlling them? Using them like cattle?"**_

"The mind control thing is usually only used in emergencies!" The woman in blue tried to wave it off, though it mattered little to him. "My sister- my sister is just going a bit overboard and I am doing my _best_ to get it all under control."

The ghostly teen grunted, taking another step. _**"To say the least, you failed at that." **_He looked around the room carefully, casually. _**"Answer me when I ask this; if that little riot is what happens when she gets out of control… what happens when you do?"**_

"What?" Aranea's back hit the wall. Fear was clear on her face as she tried to get away.

"_**I asked you,"**_ He leaned forward, sharp teeth bared at her as the smoke continued to fill the room. _**"What happens when you lose control?"**_

Aranea gulped, leaning into the wall further.

The confrontation was interrupted when a knock reverberated from the door. Karkat twitched, looking behind him at it with fury.

"Ms. Serket? You wouldn't happen to be smoking in there?" Mr. Lancers voice cut through the silence his interruption created. "Great Expectations, it almost smells like a campfire in there! I know things have been stressful lately, but make sure to use an air freshener."

Karkat paid the interruption no mind, turning back towards Aranea…

…slipping through the wall.

Another burst of rage and he jumped after her, rings of light washing over him as he did. From office, to concrete, to fresh air, he flew up into the air. From a distance, he could see Vriska flying close to the ground. She moved to take something off her finger.

Another puff of smoke. Involuntary. Another concealing artifact.

Unimportant. Need to catch her before she gets away.

She started flying towards the trees, Karkat sending a few shots her way. Ectoplasmic energy flowed easily out of his hands, missing her by a hair. It caused her to pick up the pace, barely looking back for to keep dodging. He dove after, sickle in hand.

She eventually did turn around, firing a few shots his way. They were inaccurate and meant to scare him off, but they didn't. He barely had to maneuver himself in order dodge them.

When he got close enough, he attempted to slash her with the sickle in hand, hitting solid ground instead. Aranea flew faster as every swipe of the blade came closer and closer, almost nicker her dress.

She made it into the tree line before he could land a hit, moving into the darkness of the woods. He lost her briefly, causing him to take a pause, floating his feet back onto the ground.

Karkat tilted his head and listened for her. He started to walk forward, slowly to let the crunch dead branches to emphasize his arrival.

"_**Do you think you can hide from me?" **_Tone even, the words echoed within Amity's forest. He could almost hear a catch of breath not far from him. _**"With everything you and your sister are doing to my town? To my people?"**_

Branches continued to crack under his weight. A small part of him would've felt guilty about needlessly scaring someone like this. It was drowned out by that blinding rage. Just ceaseless, unending, and terrible _rage._

"_**I've lived here for most of my life, you know. I know mostly everyone here by name, occupation, and even some details about their personal lives." **_Another step forward, more branches cracking. Some of those branches were parts of the roots that somehow got above ground._** "Xefros, that kid you were talking to earlier? Severe anxiety disorder and confidence issues. You most likely read about that in your files. Tell me, how has his behavior changed under your 'guidance.'"**_

Heavy breathing not far from where he was walking. Aranea's ecto-signature practically sung to him, the energy around her acting like a light house.

"_**This is why," **_Karkat said it in a loud whisper, carrying through the utter silence of the woods. _**"I can't let you stay here."**_

He reached through the tree, grabbing her throwing behind him. He fired another shot at her, hitting her in the stomach as she did.

Aranea was quick on the draw, though. She fired an ectoblast of her own, hitting him in the shoulder. It caused him to slow, which was enough for her to fire two more shots his way, aimed for his legs and his head.

Karkat's leg was hit, but he was able to dodge the one aimed at his head. The shots did little to impede him, launching himself forward. He slashed at her with the sickle, grazing her side as he fired another shot into her shoulder.

Aranea stumbled back into another tree. She looked around frantically for another place to escape, firing more shots at him to get him to back off. They were all wild, hitting only a third of the time. They didn't seem to bother Karkat in the slightest, which scared her even _more._

The teen was growing tired of this. Lunging at her, he grabbed her neck and slammed her up against the three before she could get away. She struggled, digging her hands into the suit, hands still alight with energy.

_ **End her.** _

Karkat didn't bother questioning that little voice in the back of his head. He raised the sickle up, readying slash aimed at her head-

"Karkat!"

-Which immediately went to the direction of the new voice. Nepeta, who was floating behind, swerved to avoid the sharp object, moving back. She raised her hands defensively in front of her, claws retracted at the moment.

"Hey, hey, it's just me! No need to gut me just yet, I've only committed pun related crimes!" The ghost blinked, looking into Karkat's eyes. Her own widened in horror. "Oh shit, you've gone obsession crazy. Not good. Look, maybe if you just put down the sickle-"

"_**Not an option." **_The halfa's voice remained deadly calm, shutting her off dead. He squeezed Aranea's throat, gloves digging into her skin. _**"She could hurt more people. So could her sister. She needs to be stopped."**_

"You're not in the right headspace right now, dude. This isn't you talking, it's your obsession." Nepeta moved slowly towards him, hands still in front of her. "Are you really willing to go this far? She hasn't seriously hurt anyone right now and probably won't."

"_**Why do believe that? You don't know who she is!" **_He raised the sickle at Nepeta this time, waving it around. _**"She's been here for days! Weeks even! She's been sucking people's emotions out and leaving them to dry, and god knows what that's doing to people!"**_

"Fine, that's true. But we don't have proof that anyone's hurt." The ghost stepped forward one last time, just out of striking range. "We can just use the thermos and- shit, look out!"

Karkat swiveled his head back to Aranea, getting a full ectoblast to the face. He flew back from the force of it, letting the blonde ghost go. The young woman vanished from sight and fled from the scene as fast she could.

Nepeta debated on whether to track her or not before she heard a growl come from Karkat's direction. She turned to see the boy get up, looking around frantically at their surroundings, trying to use his ghost sense to find her. He must not have felt Aranea's presence anymore, because his face contorted into rage once more, this time at her.

"_**You let her get away."**_

It was the only warning she got before he launched himself at her suddenly, hand in front of him, crackling with ectoplasm-

-and then shot down, wires encasing him. Karkat yelped as volts of electricity went through him, knocking him out quickly.

Nepeta took a deep breath, claws going back into her. She looked up at Terezi with a glare. "Couldn't you have done that in a better way?"

"Sorry, I kinda went on instinct there." Terezi went down to the boy, looking him over quickly. "He doesn't seem to be hurt. That blast to the face wasn't powerful enough to cause anything permanent and his obsession state probably prevented him from taking too much damage. At least he'll snap out of it when he wakes up."

"Hopefully." Nepeta relaxed. She hadn't realized how tense she was until this very moment, having to force those muscles to wind down. It was just those last few moments…

…Well, at least they knew that he formed an obsession now. One that made him _really_ violent, but that was a hurdle they could get past.

Hopefully.

Nepeta really hoped the humans knew how to calm him down if they had to deal with it on their own.

* * *

Karkat was having the most peaceful amount of sleep he's had in weeks. He was in a comfortable position while face down, his breathing came at a steady rhythm, and he was almost snoring too. He wasn't even having nightmares either, which made things so much easier.

Aradia almost felt guilty slapping him awake, but they were on a schedule.

With a quick hit, the boy was up, eyes wary and almost in a fighting stance. Unlike earlier, where he was terror rolled up in a hazmat suit, he was a bleary eyed, graceless teenager who looked ready to stumble over air. He deliriously held his hands up in front of his face, looking around the room before realizing no one had attacked him.

"Good, you're awake." Aradia's smile was strenuous, patting him on the back. "Sorry to wake you up like that, but we are kind of in a pickle here. Especially if what Nepeta and Terezi told us is true."

"What?" He looked around himself, his intelligent response followed up by something actually coherent. "Wasn't I just in Serket's office? Wait, shit, did she-"

"Yeah, she got away." Karkat looked to find Nepeta floating close to the ceiling, ears downcast. "Sorry about that. You were kinda getting obsession crazy and I needed to make sure you didn't do something you'd regret."

"Had to drag you all the way from your school to here, by the way." Terezi's voice was a shock to hear as well, seeing her wave around a net. "Had to steal one of my mom's tools to get you. The electricity was kind of needed to stop you from trying to kill us."

"The fuck are you all talking about?" Karkat looked around at everyone, finally getting his bearings after the moment of delirium. He was in his room, all of his friends scattered around the place. "How long was I out?! I don't remember shit after Aranea hypnotized me."

"Yeah, that's the thing." Sollux nervously started, wincing as his friend's gaze moved his way. "Are you sure you don't remember anything, KK? It sounds like things got a little hectic over there."

"I just said I don't have any idea what you're all talking about. Does that clue you in?" The gap in his memory was really freaking him out. He sure as hell didn't remember getting out of there, nor did her remember fighting Aranea and her getting away, and he definitely didn't remember needing to be sedated. The last things he remembered was her talking on the phone and…

…Did Nepeta say he went obsession crazy?

"Okay, let's get some facts straight here." Terezi pointed at Karkat, serious mode on. "Apparently Aranea somehow set off an alarm in your head that set you off enough for you to chase her down. As in, full blown murder crazy. Nepeta found you when you when you were about to execute her on sight."

"Bullshit." He didn't know why he said that so quickly, but it came out all the same. "I wouldn't try that! I don't want to kill anyone."

"Karkat," Aradia reached out, squeezing his arm. He almost flinched at the contact. "We know that isn't you. But it happened, okay? Something happened to trigger your obsession and it caused you to go a little haywire. It's alright."

"But I don't have a…" Karkat rubbed at his temples, eyes closed tight. "Can we- Can we just get back to the main problem here? We've got two ghosts out there that are either eating emotions or mind controlling people and they're both loose. We need to have a plan here."

"Alright, alright, let's back up here. He's got a point." Sollux knew the conversation was going to go nowhere if they kept going like this. KK was too far in denial right now to actually talk about it. "It doesn't seem like we're going to get access to them before tomorrow night. Vriska's holding a concert at the tv station and is going to broadcast to anyone in the country."

"That's true. Really wish we could've had more time to set things up before then, but here we are." Aradia ran her finger through her hair, trying to sort out the tangles. "Then again, we didn't expect a second ghost. Especially that they're apparently doing this together."

"The Serkets have apparently been doing this con for a while now. Aranea called her sister about how the plan was supposed to be that she knocked them and Vriska brings them back up. Apparently, one of them is off script." Karkat accepted the change in subject, beginning to pace. "Vriska seems to be borderline obsession-crazy, but Aranea's in control right now."

"And obviously enabling her, even if she doesn't really want to." Terezi tapped her cane on the floor, frowning deeply. "How long have they been out here? Things are a mess in the Infinite Realms, so we don't exactly have a registry of ghosts, but someone would've noticed them missing."

"They probably slipped out of a natural portal. I can kinda get why they decided to come here, though." Nepeta shrugged at the incredulous looks sent her way. "Hey, it makes sense. Go to small towns where people are less likely to know current events, blend in for a bit, harvest some emotions, and leave before something negative happens. Switching their hunting grounds isn't a bad strategy."

"Until they decided to fuck it up by coming here." Sollux typed something into his computer, squinting at the screen. " I have the time when the concert will most likely start. Unless Vriska actually listens to her sister, we won't have to worry about when she'll show up. It's probably the best idea to attack her there."

"What about any people around there? I mean, I doubt she's not going have some kind of audience there to cheer her on." Aradia raised a good point. There was a lot of people at the concert they'd gone too, and that was in an abandoned warehouse. "That's a lot of witnesses and we're trying to make sure ghosts don't become common knowledge."

Karkat slumped into a metal chair, putting a hand to his chin. After a moment of silence, he decided to pipe up. "Sollux, do the ads say anything about there being a special show for anyone that shows up before the broadcast starts?"

Sollux scrolled down further. He stopped after finding what he was looking for. "Yeah, it looks like Vriska will be singing a few singles that she's 'never released before' to specific buyers. After that's over, the broadcast starts up."

"You think we should back off and only jump in after she enthralls her audience?" Terezi squinted at the halfa, deeply unsure. "That'd just make her more powerful by then. You did an okay job fighting her alone, but that was after one concert and she was away from the audience. She'd be getting power directly from them."

"But they wouldn't be able to register us. Aradia and Sollux didn't remember anything after they got out of her mind control." Nepeta's claws came out, a confident grin on her face. "Plus, he's got back up now. A halfa, two ghosts, and two humans armed with ghost weapons should be enough."

"Exactly. I don't exactly know Aranea's fighting skills just yet, but even if she got put in a corner, they're both outnumbered." Karkat definitely didn't like the idea of facing a powered up ghostly rockstar, but that seemed like the only way to do this discreetly. "We just need a way to prevent anyone from getting hypnotized."

"I was able to find some kind of headphones from your dad's storage. I think it might actually protect us from the music." Aradia pulled out the notes related to said invention, reading them over carefully. "I mean, we don't actually know that, but I guess we'll figure it out when we get there."

There was an unsettling implication about what would happen if they didn't. Terezi then tapped her cane on the floor once again, catching everyone's attention.

"I personally think this'll be fun." Terezi's feral smile came on full view. It honestly made everyone move back due to the number of teeth apparent in her mouth. "I mean, this'll suck if it goes wrong, but taking down supervillains sounds awesome."

"You just think that because you want to live out those little roleplaying games we did back when we were kids." Nepeta leaned in conspiratorially to Aradia. "Did you know she used to hang her stuffed animals after doing mock trials? I used to be a witness in all of them and she'd just keep them up there until her mom asked her to take them down."

"Hey, that's private!" Terezi blushed, waving her cane at the cat ghost. "You're the one likes to go LARPing!"

As the three girls began to banter, Karkat let out a breath, rolling his eyes at the chaos. He felt a presence move beside him, looking over to find Sollux plopping down in a chair. The Captor raised an eyebrow at him, expecting him to say something.

"You know that's not how I'm like, right?" He didn't mean for it to sound so desperate, but that's how it came out. "That's not me at all."

"It isn't." Sollux agreed with him immediately, sliding the laptop over to him. He started playing random videos involving Vriska. "Let's just get some research done, okay? We'll talk about that obsession shit later."

Karkat was almost tempted to say they didn't _need_ to talk about it at all, but he figured that'd only make the conversation be pushed up to now. He simply grabbed the computer, pressing play on whatever video he could find.

…Admittedly, he couldn't help but think that it sucked that Vriska was doing all of this. He actually couldn't help but like her music.

* * *

The television station was more packed then it had been any other night. Even though it was mostly word of mouth, it appears _Scourge Sister _would bring in a packed house tonight, something Karkat had been afraid of. It was what they planned for, though, so it wasn't surprising in the slightest.

The three living teens silently went through the crowd, Karkat with a hood up while Aradia and Sollux let Terezi and Nepeta use them as human taxi's again. They made sure to come in there with their weapons as discreetly as possible. Karkat felt weird not going in with an ecto-gun, but since he can use ectoblasts now, that naked feeling was abated.

"It should be starting up at any minute. We should get into position before things can kick off." Sollux watched as several camera crews set up things up. Some of them looked positively zombified. "Hopefully, we can avoid Aranea until after the sabotage."

"I'm more worried about how well the headphones will work against Vriska's music. We haven't been able to test it." Aradia fiddled with said headphones warily. They tried using old videos of Vriska's concerts, but it turned out those didn't have any hypnotic effect to them. "They haven't exploded, but that's the only consolation we've got here."

"It'll work. We just got to make sure the plan goes smoothly." He turned towards the two, narrowing his eyes. "Remember, you two head into the back and try to sneak past anyone that doesn't appear to be zombified. I'll stay out here and after she finishes hypnotizing people, I'll attack her. Terezi, Nepeta, come out only after the sabotage is finished or if you need to help either of them fight."

He got nods from the two humans, with a weird flash of color appearing in their eyes. He took it as confirmation from Terezi and Nepeta, turning back towards the stage. He felt dread seep into his stomach as everything seemingly finished up, lights dimming.

"Here we go." The halfa mumbled to himself, letting out a breath he was holding in.

Vriska strolled in, right on cue, as applause thundered out. The outside venue thankfully prevents it from becoming deafening, sparing Karkat's ears. He also couldn't help but think it gave plenty of room to fight, so small miracles all around.

The applause eventually stopped when Vriska raised a hand up, silencing everyone within a few seconds. She really did seem to have a presence among the crowd. Of course, some of these guys were people he recognized at the last concert, so that may have just been here powers at work. She cleared her throat, grabbing the mic.

"Well, I'm certainly glad to have everyone here tonight. This place is certainly packed, that's for sure." Despite the fact it wasn't a joke, a chuckle rose through crowd. "It really is! Definitely the biggest crowd I've played for yet. Didn't think I'd be on tv either, so there's that."

Another chuckle came from the crowd as Karkat groaned. Could she get more self-absorbed.

"You know, I've had a lot of people tell me throughout my life that I wouldn't be able to make it up here. Always calling me some kind of attention grubbing bitch that'd get kicked out of the first record label I apply for." Vriska smirked, sharp teeth poking out. "Wonder what'd they say if they saw me now."

She suddenly grabbed her guitar, swinging it in front of her as she put the mic back on its stand. "I'm going to play a special song for you tonight, just for you. Nobody else here but us is going to hear it." She gave one last smile before moving closer to the mic. "Hope you enjoy~."

With little hesitation, she started slamming the notes out of the guitar.

(Note: Play "Ignorance by Paramore starting now.)

As the guitar came on, Karkat motioned for the humans and ghosts to begin. He barely noticed them leaving as kept a close eye on the crowd around him, watching as Vriska worked her magic.

Aradia and Sollux were already moving into a side door of the building before Vriska started the first verse.

"_If I'm a bad person, you don't like me,_

_Well, I guess I'll make my own way._

_It's a circle, a mean cycle,_

_I can't excite you anymore."_

The two humans let out a sigh, noting that nothing was happening to them right now. Guess the headphones actually worked. They worked their way inside, checking everywhere for guards while they moved.

"_Where's your gavel? Your jury?_

_What's my offense this time?_

_You're not a judge, but if you're gonna judge me,_

_Well, sentence me to another life."_

Karkat moved around the crowd himself, checking to make sure Aranea wasn't out there herself. Couldn't let her catch him and throw them off the plan now. Plus, it worked to make sure that crowd control was kept up so no one got hurt.

"_Don't wanna hear your sad songs,_

_I don't wanna feel your pain._

_When you swear it's all my fault?_

_Cause you know we're not the same (No)._

_We're not the same (No)._

_Oh, we're not the same."_

Speaking of the devil, Karkat made sure to grab an idiot before he tried to jump on drink stand set up. The idiot didn't appear hypnotized, but he was starting to be, and god forbid if that table broke under him. He glared at Vriska, even though she didn't pay attention to anyone in the crowd.

"_Yeah, the friends who stuck together,_

_We wrote our names in blood._

_But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (Hey),_

_It's good (Hey),_

_It's good."_

The chorus started after Aradia and Sollux noticed two guards in the distance. They held back, making sure to look around to check if anyone else was around.

"_Well, you treat me just like, _

_Another stranger._

_Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,_

_I guess I'll go,_

_I'd best be on my way out."_

Aradia made a hand motion, signaling the other ghosts to come on out. Terezi and Nepeta turned invisible, floating towards the guards carefully. When they got into position behind them, they slipped into them, possessing them completely.

"_You treat me just like, _

_Another stranger._

_Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,_

_I guess I'll go,_

_I'd best be on my way out."_

The ghosts led the guards away, letting Aradia and Sollux get to the door. The two looked it over, reading the signs. The two high fived and jumped inside when they found it was the broadcasting room and nobody was inside yet.

"_Ignorance is your new best friend,_

_Ignorance is your new best friend."_

Karkat, meanwhile, was trying to slow down the hectic crowd, checking in and making sure some rando didn't do something monumentally stupid.

"_This is the best thing that could have happened,_

_Any longer and I wouldn't have made it._

_It's not a war, no, it's not a rapture,_

_I'm just a person, but you can't take it."_

A poor attempt a mosh pit was starting to form and Karkat couldn't help but notice some poor girl his age getting dragged in. He growled, feeling his eyes burn as he noticed her get jostled around. He turned invisible himself, adding intangibility as he moved into the crowd.

"_The same tricks that, that once fooled me,_

_They won't get you anywhere._

_I'm not the same kid from your memory,_

_Well, now I can fend for myself."_

Karkat grabbed the girl before she could get too lost in the crowd. He thanked the fact that the crowd and the girl were dazed and starting to slip under Vriska's mind control to notice him dragging her out.

"_Don't wanna hear your sad songs,_

_I don't wanna feel your pain._

_When you swear it's all my fault?_

_Cause you know we're not the same (No)._

_We're not the same (No)._

_Oh, we're not the same."_

The halfa made sure to put the girl somewhere near a snack bar, moving on when she didn't appear to be injured. He glared up at the stage once more before going back into the mosh pit to check if anyone else was in there.

"_Yeah, we used to stick together,_

_We wrote our names in blood,_

_But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (Hey)._

_It's good (Hey)._

_It's good."_

Karkat kept pulling people out of the mosh pit whenever they struggled, discreetly pulling them out when they didn't notice. It was beginning to settle down, the mind control going into effect on them.

"_Well, you treat me just like,_

_Another stranger._

_Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,_

_I guess I'll go,_

_I'd best be on my way out."_

Karkat grabbed the last struggling person, some idiot that had somehow arrived her drunk. He set him back at the snack bar too with the other victims, cursing to himself in angry whispers. He was going to kill her after this.

"_You treat me just like, _

_Another stranger._

_Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,_

_I guess I'll go,_

_I'd best be on my way out."_

Karkat looked around the area one final time, deciding that most of the crowd was docile enough for him to stop doing crowd control. Looking over at the speakers, a small part of him couldn't help but think up of something particularly devious just in case the original plan didn't work.

"_Ignorance is your new best friend._

_Ignorance is your new best friend._

_Ignorance is your new best friend._

_Ignorance is your new best friend."_

As the guitar solo started, the door to the broadcasting room opened up, alerting the two humans to another presence. The two blinked owlishly at Aranea, who couldn't help but stare back.

"Mr. Captor? Ms. Megido? What are you two doing here?" Aranea didn't appear to be in a good mood, looking at the two with suspicion. "Shouldn't you two be at home."

The two humans were desperately coming up with excuses before Terezi and Nepeta slipped through a wall.

"Hey guys, we knocked out the guards! Any idea how long it'll take till…" Nepeta trailed off as soon as she noticed the other ghost in the room, who just stared open mouthed at them. "…Well, shit."

Aradia pulled out and her ecto-gun and opened fire as Sollux frantically worked on ruining the broadcast before it could officially start. The room, along with the rest of the building, fell into chaos as the ghosts and human fought.

Vriska started the last lines of her song, fully unaware of the sabotage.

"_Well, you treat me just like,_

_Another stranger._

_Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,_

_I guess I'll go,_

_I'd best be on my way out!_

_You treat me just like,_

_Another stranger!_

_Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,_

_I guess I'll go,_

_I'd best be on my way out."_

As the last lines of the song went out, the fight broke out the building in a flurry of ectoblasts, swearing, and clawing. Aranea was thrown on the stage with a yell, the music cutting off abruptly at her entrance. She rose up quickly though, her hair a mess and looking positively enraged.

"Is this entire town infested with ghosts?!" She waved her arms in the air, frustrated. Aranea turned towards her sister, pointing at her and snarling. "Of course you had to go nuts in the one town where we can't brainwash some people. Where a ghost hunter, of all things, lives. You couldn't just wait one more town before pulling this."

"Hey, I'm not going nuts here. I'm actually securing us a permanent place. Isn't that something _you_ wanted?" Vriska started flying too, looking over at the newcomers. "And just who are you assholes?! Can't you see we're doing a concert here?!"

"They're with me."

The Serket's flinched, one in slight fear, one in annoyance. They looked up to find Karkat, fully transformed, was floating above the stage, eyes narrowed. He flipped a sickle casually, looking down on them.

"Nice to see that I won't have to look for one of you after this is over. Knocks out two problems for the price of one." Karkat growled, disdain clear in his voice. "I'll give you one more chance to stop this shit, but after that, we've got no choice to take you in."

"Like hell I'm doing that. I've worked way too hard to get here and I'm not going to let some jackass with a gas mask ruin it." Vriska held her guitar with a death grip, ready to hit the strings. "I'd like to see you try and beat me with a crowd nearby."

Karkat lazily turned his head towards Aranea. He couldn't help but take a small bit of satisfaction when he noticed her shiver. "Any thoughts on that _**Aranea?"**_

She jolted at the change in his voice but gulped. "Sorry. I don't agree with any of this, but I'm standing by my sister." Ectoplasm crackled around her fingers, watching everyone carefully.

Karkat fought the urge to sigh. Couldn't ghosts just listen to him at least once when he wants to talk them down?

"Fine then." He motioned towards Sollux, Aradia, and Nepeta. "You three. Take down Aranea with everything you've got. Terezi, you're with me."

The blind ghost flew to his side, unsheathing the sword from her cane. She twirled it absentmindedly before sending a vicious grin Vriska's way.

It was a tense few seconds before Vriska started the fight with a strum of her guitar. The crowds started cheering her name, temperature dropping all the while.

Shockwaves were instantly sent their way, easily dodged by the duo. She kept sending them, one after another in quick succession, only stopped when a blast sent her way causes her to dodge. Karkat sent volley after volley, letting Terezi get close.

When she was close enough, Terezi did her best to slice Vriska, who either blocked it with her guitar or made sure to fly away from it. Karkat made her falter occasionally, almost getting caught by the blade several times.

Vriska made an immediate move to start firing ice attacks, creating min glaciers in seconds. They were immediately counteracted when Karkat switched to melee, flying in, and kicking her in the back. Terezi started breathing fire, necklace flashing as she melted the ice.

On the other side of the stage, Aranea was doing her best to avoid getting scratched by Nepeta's claws, only to eventually switch that out for avoiding getting shot by the humans ecto-guns. It appeared to be a losing battle before she eventually growled, shooting Nepeta back.

"Enough of this! Teenagers or not, I'm not being taken down tonight!" Aranea's yell was followed up by her flying into the sky. Her body, head to toe, turned into a shadowy black, growing twice her size. Two eyes turned to eight as she moved back into attack.

"Okay, that's just bullshit." Sollux moved back, moving to assemble his beam weapon before she could get the upper hand on them. She tried to get to him, but Aradia pelted her as much as she could as Nepeta tried slashing into her shadow form with little purchase.

Karkat and Terezi made a little more progress in fighting Vriska, though it wasn't much. They'd kept her on the ropes due to numbers, but not by much.

Terezi did her best to remain on the offensive, though she was starting to get tired. Swinging her sword as randomly as possible to confuse the Serket was draining her stamina. When she fumbled a swing of her sword, Vriska took it as an opportunity to hit her in the head with her guitar.

Sending the scaled girl back, she only had a second before Karkat was throwing even bigger blasts at her. She flew upward, much faster than their last fight and immediately send a large soundwave to him.

Karkat paused, realizing the blow could hit the cheering crowd. He looked toward his sickle and came up with a quick plan. Imbuing it with ecto-energy, he swung so it met with the soundwave in the middle, exploding it.

Vriska was blinded by the explosion, forcing her to cover her eyes. Before she could recover, Karkat swept in swinging the sickle at her full force. She tried to protect herself with the guitar.

He cut it in half with his swing.

Vriska stared down at the ruined guitar for a second, blinking at it. The shocked look quickly turned to rage, hands lighting blue as she started sending waves of ice at him at every opportunity.

Meanwhile, Aranea was starting to overpower Aradia and Nepeta, taking swipes of her own. Her shadow form gave her an extra edge, making her more agile. She slipped from one place to another, taking pot shots at the two every time she could.

Before she could successfully knock Nepeta out, a solid beam of ecto-energy hit her in the back, throwing her across the stage. She tried pushing back the beam coming from Sollux's beam cannon, failing as she did. The other two combatants took shots at a distance to keep it up.

Vriska was staring to have enough of the fight, throwing ice every which way, only to get it melted by Terezi. Karkat was swerving around her, only ticking her off even more. She was eventually kicked in the stomach by Karkat, sending her crashing onto the stage.

Terezi took this opportunity to grab the shock bola her mother used, throwing it at Vriska. The ghostly rock star saw it, throwing up a shield to protect herself. Karkat immediately responded by throwing himself at her, catching the bola, and turning human.

The satisfaction of watching her face turn from confidence to shock was satisfying as he lodged the sickle into the wood next to her neck, the curve facing him and stopping inches from her throat. As the shield dropped, he threw the bola at Aranea's struggling form, catching, and shocking her at the last second.

Everyone stopped, taking a moment to breathe. The silence was almost eerie, as the crowd had stopped cheering. Karkat stared down at Vriska, eyes narrowed and angry. His eyes still glowed an eerie red.

"Are we done here, Serket?" He eventually growled, getting closer to her face. She shrunk back, eyes narrowing back. "Entertainers usually now when to play the final song, and I'd consider this a showstopper."

It looked like Vriska was about to make another sarcastic comment, but a groan to their side stopped her. She turned her head as much as she could, seeing her sister groaning and curled up, the bola still wrapped around her. Aranea looked almost pitiful, having shed the shadow form she took up for the fight.

"…Fine. You got me." Vriska lazily raised her hands, looking up at Karkat with visible disdain. He couldn't help but think the glow in her eyes at diminished somewhat. "You happy now?"

"…No. But it's not like I was going to give you a choice." Karkat grabbed the thermos, sucking her up before she could move anymore.

The group officially began to relax, forms slouching, and weapons slowly being put away. Karkat sucked up Aranea, picking up the bola's left behind. He handed both off to Terezi, gait swaying.

"Take these into the Ghost Zone. I don't know what you have to do to keep her in there, but please try. Maybe even get the two of them some help or something." Karkat waved off the concerned look on the ghost's face. "My dad made more thermos's, so I'll just take one until you return this."

He looked around at the stage, searching for something. He found the Vriska's eye patch and Aranea's ring, grabbing and throwing them to Nepeta. "Have Horuss analyze these. Maybe he'll find something so you two can hang out in the human world undetected." He looked between the two ghosts and giving them a thankful nod. "Thanks for the help today. We wouldn't have won without you. And if you have to tell your mom's anything, feel free to tell them as much as you can."

The two ghosts nodded, vanishing from sight as soon as he was finished. Karkat stumbled over to Sollux and Aradia, keeping an eye on the crowd. They still hadn't moved since Vriska had been defeated.

"What are we going to do about them?" Sollux motioned at the silent crowd. "Can't just leave them here."

"I'm surprised Vriska's mind control hasn't lost its effect on them yet." Aradia scratched her head. She looked exhausted, but so were the rest of them. "Is this like sleep walking? Should we try and wake them up."

"Relax, I got it covered." Before the other two could ask what Karkat meant, he pulled out a button from his jacket, pushing it. It caused a shrill noise to suddenly rip from the speakers, startling the crowd out of their trance.

As the field began to light up in shouts of confusion, fear, and maybe anger, Aradia looked between the two boys.

"Next we decide to go out for something," She started out authoritatively. "I'm picking the venue.

The boys respond in under a second, in unison.

"Agreed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two ghosts neutralized, an obsession discovered, and some drama set up for the upcoming chapters. Hope this intrigues all of you, especially since I can't wait for them to come up.
> 
> Either way, I'll see all of you in the next update. Cheers!


	17. Summons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we go again! These next two chapters will be a sort of break from the main story, focusing more on worldbuilding. Then we get to the more serious stuff again.
> 
> I'll explain who is replacing who at the end of this chapter. Either way, I'll see you all at the end!

Karkat, when he wasn't doing schoolwork or dealing with his new hobby of fighting ghosts, usually had a lot of time to think. This was especially apparent as he simply zoned out while Horuss worked on the portal.

It would be pretty obvious to people that knew him, if they themselves weren't busy doing their own thing, that he was still digesting the Serket incidents.

Primarily, his obsession crazy moment.

Despite the amount of shit that had been going on in his life, time was still a thing he paid attention too. And it had been one month since the accident occurred, including his death, powers, and all the ghosts that came with it. It felt longer in some cases, shorter in others, but it was still a month.

But out of everything that happened, coming in second to his own fucking temporary death, the obsession crazy moment stayed with him the most. It had come back to him in bits and pieces later, when everything calmed down enough, and everyone could breathe normally.

Every memory of it was clouded by one emotion: rage. Unrestrained, cold, calculating rage. Karkat wasn't unfamiliar with that feeling. He was an angry, temperamental person, so it was something he would feel commonly.

But those few moments, remembering the burning feeling flowing in his veins, power flitting through his fingers, and the terrified look on Aranea's face as he prepared to _chop her fucking head off,_ he couldn't compare it to his usual bouts of anger. Hell, he couldn't reconcile the fact that the person doing those things were _himself._

Of course, it was him. There was no disputing that fact, especially since two other people saw him about to kill someone in broad daylight. And didn't that kill him in a different way.

The thing about the accident was that he hoped that it wouldn't change him. Sure, after finally accepting that things had went this way, he knew things weren't going to be the same. However, he did expect that, spooky little powers aside, he'd still be the same guy throughout it all. As long he had complete control, he'd be fine.

In that moment, there wasn't any control. Just rage.

He had an obsession now. Was there any turning back on this now?

"…Vantas?"

Karkat snapped out of his funk, blinking rapidly at the sound of Horuss's voice. "Yeah?" He made it sound like he hadn't been thinking about his existence and rapidly spiraling. "Something wrong man?"

Horuss hesitantly darted his eyes towards the portal, frown growing the slightest bit before answering. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say yes. I might not be able to continue working on this portal any longer."

"What?" Sollux, having been busy working on his laptop, closed it quickly. "What's the issue? I thought messing around with technology was a whole part of your powerset."

"Sollux!" Aradia swatted the back of his head. She gave a comforting smile towards the Zahhak. "Sorry, he's been testy since the concert stuff. He doesn't mean what he said."

"No, he has a point there. It is within my powerset." The ghost rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "But I think I can say with the utmost confidence that this device has bested me."

"How?" Karkat somehow knew something like this was going to happen, but he'd been pushing that thought away and considering it just his natural pessimism slipping through. "Did my dad put in some weird fail switch?"

"Not exactly." Horuss took a deep sigh, an actual annoyed look passing onto his face as he looked over in the portal's direction again. "Your father's design, while genius in the fact that it works, is still very complicated and nearly insane. Building a device such as this requires a lot of complex machinery behind it. Plenty of things that rely on each other, not only to work, but to also make sure it doesn't implode in on itself."

"…The portal can't be turned off without something going wrong." Sollux said it as a statement rather than a question. "If you don't turn it off the exact right way, it'll explode and possibly cause an even worse disaster."

Horuss nervously nodded. He looked embarrassed and even slightly guilty.

"What about your powers though?" Aradia tried to find the loophole, hopping on one foot to another. "Isn't there some way you can use them?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid even my control is limited." The ghost shrugged, seemingly already giving up in the face of the losing battle. "The nature of the technology actually makes it harder for me to control it. And since I'd need precision in order to turn it off, otherwise disaster is sure to follow."

Horuss looked away too, looking even more guilty then before. "There's also to another matter that I've been investigating since I've gotten here. It turns out your father, after finding out the secret of opening up portals, started on something else."

"What kind of project?" Karkat knew he should've been paying attention to his dad more, but he'd been busy and hadn't had the time to check in on his inventions for a while. "Wait, you've been looking into my dad's plans?!"

"Only a little!" Horuss raised his hands defensively. "It was only just in case he invented any better ectoplasm detection devices. I happened to stumble on a few concerning ones."

The three patiently waited for him to continue as he pulled out a rectangular device, pushing a button that caused it to glow. A light beamed out, showing a schematic for something that looked like…

"Your father was working on a mini-portal this entire time." Horuss messed with the blueprints more, showing a "complete" product. It looked sleek and thinner than the original model. "This was most likely to better show off to people at his apparent showing. Even if we turned off the original one, it looks like he already has a portable version waiting in the wings."

If the morale in the room hadn't already been low, that little revelation would've sent it plummeting. From what they could tell, the portable portal would've only worked for an hour at most. However, that was enough to catch attention. Enough to show that Spades tech worked to people that would actively want to study it.

The plan was fucked no matter how you put it.

"God damnit." Karkat slumped into an open chair rubbing at his temples. So much for that plan. Looks like he was screwed after all. He looked up at Horuss, making sure to let him know it wasn't his fault. "You did your best. Thanks for the help on that. Any good news?"

Zahhak did nod at that, a small smile moving onto his face. "I've been studying those little artifacts you handed me in my spare time and while some things have yet to be unraveled, I have made a significant amount of progress."

Karkat numbly nodded, trying to let that positivity enter his system. He almost felt his body reject it, but that was neither here nor there. "Good. Knowing how those tick might prevent other ghosts from slipping by here unnoticed in the future."

"I just hope that's a rare thing. Can't imagine what it'd be like if a more powerful ghost got their hands on something like that." Aradia looked at her friends warily. "What do we do with those things after we figure them out? I don't know if we can give them back to the Serkets."

"Hopefully, they only work on them. That way we can just tuck them away and forget about them." Sollux was doing his best to distract everyone before a thought occurred. "Hey, have we heard anything from Terezi about them just yet? I mean, she did take them to her mom, but we don't know what happened to her."

"That's because I've been busy, Captor."

The four jumped as Terezi lazily floated through the portal opening, rubbing at her eyes. She looked positively tired, almost literally dragging her feet on the floor. Her cane scratched at it for her, though.

"Morning to you too, Pyrope." Sollux chuckled, ignoring the glare sent his way. "Somebody wake up on the wrong side of the dragon's hoard?"

"Your mother's been running you ragged, huh?" Aradia winced, noticing the full extent of her state. "Sorry about that. I guess the whole Serket thing has made things hard at home?"

"Not really at home, but it's definitely been busy at work." Terezi floated towards Karkat, stopping herself from yawning. "I intern at my mom's courthouse and their little stunt has my mom on overdrive." She stopped in front of the halfa, handing him a piece of paper. "Also, here's this."

Karkat plucked the parchment out of her hand, a confused expression falling onto his face. It looked official, the glowing parchment giving it an eerie quality that he wasn't sure how to feel about. From what he could tell, it was saying that…

The halfa blinked. "I'm being summoned to court? Wait, are the Serket's _suing _me?!"

"No, fuck that." The draconic girl waved off his panic, settling into a chair and relaxing into it. "They were judged to be in the wrong here. You _are _being summoned as a witness to their behavior and my mom wants to be as thorough as possible. I didn't tell her everything about what happened, though, so this might be a roundabout way of interrogating you."

"Yeah, that's so much better to hear." Sollux pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. "Jesus Christ, Karkat's getting summoned to ghost court. The universe really likes to top off the latest weird thing to happen to us periodically, doesn't it?"

"I'm guessing we aren't invited." Aradia's expression got a little bit worried, looking between Karkat and the portal. "And none of us have actually been inside the infinite realms before. This might be the first time any of us will step inside of it."

Karkat twitched at the mention of it, trying to avoid everyone turning their looks toward him. That was true, even if he wished Aradia hadn't said it. Despite having a record of four different friends inside the Ghost Zone, none of them had made any effort of trying to get inside. Admittedly, for two out of three of them, it was due to the fact they couldn't fly.

For Karkat? He simply didn't think about it. The idea just seemed to be off limits and he simply didn't try to go in, even though he was the one to most likely survive in there. Of course, that didn't mean he wanted to.

He couldn't help but feel a fuckton of fear anytime he looked into the portal for too long. He did think that anything that spawned the likes of Horuss, Terezi, and Skulker was most likely dangerous, but really it was simply due to the fact that portal fucking killed him. He didn't want it to be the source of his death again.

"What happen if I don't show up?" Karkat's eyes darted to Terezi. "I mean, she can't really force me to come there. Hopefully."

"Then she might have to let the Serkets go. Nepeta and I might be good enough as eyewitnesses, but we did have to mention that another ghost helped us. And my mother is anything but careless about procedure." Terezi looked at him sympathetically. "Sorry Karkles but looks like your first visit into the Infinite Realms is for business."

Karkat took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, eyes flicking back towards the portal. Okay, that wasn't really ideal. Actually, this wasn't close to ideal in the slightest. They were really expecting him to just jump in there and pretend he knew everything about the place. Or that he was even remotely like anyone else in there.

"If I may say something," Horuss started, causing everyone to jump. They almost forgot about him for a second. "I do believe you're imagining the Infinite Realms to be worse than it actually is. I will admit to it being somewhat lawless for the most part, but there are plenty of civilized places within it. Not everyone there is like Skulker."

"…He's got a point, KK." The Captor didn't look happy to admit that, but it wasn't like there was anything else they could do. "If she lets the Serkets go, there's no telling what kind of damage they could do on their own. They might even come back and try and get revenge if they aren't punished."

"This could even be a research mission too!" Megido piped up, the suggestion bringing up some kind of interest among them. "You get to see how ghost society actually does law. And some actual architecture too! Imagine what a ghost court looks like."

Karkat wanted to protest against that, but they both had a point. The Serket's were dangerous when left unchecked and he didn't want to see what would happen if they were actively vengeful. Not to mention his studies on ghosts would benefit from seeing one their courts in action.

Karkat checked the clock. It was still pretty early in the morning and his dad wouldn't be home all day. Final preparations. He was apparently calling in some favors at the activity center to hold his presentation/reunion there.

"Fine." He put down his backpack, grabbing his journal on ghosts out before he could change his mind. "That just means if I double die, it's on your head Pyrope."

"As long you use common sense, you'll be fine." She waved it off. She pointed at the other kids, waving at them vaguely. "Hold down the fort for us. This might take all day, so get comfortable."

"I'll get the snacks." Sollux rose up, though he said one final thing before Karkat slipped into the portal. "Don't get your ass killed. If you do, I'll Frankenstein the hell out of your corpse."

"I'll probably just do a séance myself." Aradia joked, waving goodbye. It was hesitant and neither human would admit to finding this nothing less than nerve wracking.

Karkat only nodded back before facing the portal, bright rings going across his form. After fully turning into Phantom, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted into the portal.

He really hoped Future Karkat wouldn't be pissed at this decision.

* * *

The halfa wasn't sure what to expect of the Ghost Zone when he finally went inside of it. If he had to take a guess, though, he'd say it was somehow exactly he imagined it as a kid, but also different in the strangest ways.

As for what he got right, it was mostly the feeling of abject emptiness within it. Or maybe it was the realization of its scope. He figured a land of the dead would be intimidating in size, eerily deep and almost incomprehensible. And that many of the creatures within it would only get stranger the further he went inside it.

Like the ocean, in a strange way. He always wanted to study it, to find out more about the creatures in it. Humans have traveled further into space than their own oceans and he wanted to be the first to change that.

In a way that was similar to the ocean, but contrary to what he thought the Ghost Zone would be like, there were plenty of dead cities in it.

While nothing of note was too close to the portal, the farther he went in with Terezi as his guide, the more signs of civilization popped up. Usually it was the occasional "ghost lair" that Pyrope away from, but there were occasionally other kinds of buildings he could see in the distance.

Karkat could even see a city way off, with building that looked like they came from Greece. He'd asked about it, almost joking about how it could be Atlantis and that people were looking for it in the wrong places

Terezi corrected him in saying that it was a ghostly version of Pompei. Apparently sites where mass amounts of death occurred sometimes caused the populations to appear en masse.

She warned him not to go there on its "death day." He didn't bother questioning why that was.

Karkat regretted not bringing more pencils with him. If he stayed in here any longer, he'd sharpen the one he brought in with him until it was a nub.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for them to actually find the courthouse with Terezi at the wheel. It didn't make sense to Karkat at first, but he figured if he made more expeditions in here he could make a map. Though, that thought was put to the wayside when he drank in the scenery.

The courthouse itself looked a little like the United States Supreme Court building, though with a more gothic twist, like it came straight out of an evil alternate universe. With four columns supporting the building, the two at the opposite sides of the building had dragon statues wrapped around, heads outstretched to look into the depths of the Ghost Zone. Their eyes were a deep red.

As for the carvings, they depicted more monstrous ghosts sitting together, speaking as a figure in the middle stared outwards as well. The only thing was they were all blindfolded. Under those carvings, a saying was etched into the stone.

_Justice for All, At Any Cost._

"Ominous, I know." Terezi laughed at the slightly freaked out look from Karkat. "But that's my mom for ya. She's an awesome lady who hunts down criminals, but she has the weirdest dramatic sense."

"Is that where you get it from?" He said it sarcastically, but he figured that explained a lot about her. He looked at the closed black doors, on edge. "Can you tell me what to expect in there? I haven't been to a lot of courthouses in the human world."

The scaly ghost shrugged. "I can't really say. It can get pretty intense in there, but it's not like she'll hang you from the rafters as soon as you walk in." A thought did seem to occur to her, causing her to shift into serious mode. "One suggestion, though; do not lie to her directly. She can tell practically instantly if you're actively trying to lie. If you have to trick her, speak in half-truths, or lie by omission. Trust me, I wouldn't have gotten away with anything if I didn't know any of that."

Karkat nodded, mulling that over. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind." He floated towards to door before putting his hands tentatively on the handle. "Alright, here we go. Wish me luck."

As soon as he opened the door, he was met with a cacophony of noise, hitting him like a wave. The sight in front of him almost knocked him back as well.

A congregation of ghosts littered the benches leading into the building, all on black wood and watching raptly as a court case seemed to be finishing up. The walls leading towards the front were covered in red curtains, giving him flashbacks to the few times he watched Twin Peaks with his dad. However, they stopped when they reached the gates leading towards the actual court.

The only strange thing about it was the one person standing at the judges table and god did it show how much Terezi looked like her mother.

The uniform was similar, and they shared as similar haircut, but the uniform looked much older, intimidating while the hair was jet black. She looked more serious as well, face hidden in the shadows as she towered over most of the people in the room. Two red eyes glowed from that darkness, slit pupils looking over the latest defendant with a blank stare.

They looked probing, as if searching for all the answers within the trembling man.

"Ms. Redglare," The defendant had a deep voice, though it sounded higher due to the stress he was obviously under. "I-I get why my word isn't exactly trustworthy to you, but I've served my time in the living world. I don't… I don't get I must-"

"Zachariah," Redglare's voice cut through his protesting, sharp teeth seen briefly as she reigned in a scowl. "Your history in the living world, while useful in weighing in on the verdict, is not what you're being tried for. You _are _being tried for the amount of attempted murders you tried to commit ever since you've arrived here."

"But those were all self-defense!" The man cowered as Redglare narrowed her eyes. "Ok, ok, not all of them were. But we're all dead here, why does that even matter? Plus, I was only targeting some people, I wasn't just going around and-"

"Zachariah," She said his name much more roughly, voice lilting towards dangerous. "Just because this happens to be your afterlife doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want. This place, despite what you think, has laws. While not everyone acknowledges those laws due to the vast expanse of the Infinite Realms, that doesn't mean they're immune to it under territories that do recognize it. And since you've committed these crimes in them, that means you are subject to being judged for them."

"This isn't fair!" It was honestly pathetic watching an attempted murderer start to whine like a spoiled child, but Karkat would admit that looking into Redglare's eyes would make anyone feel like a scared kid. "You don't even rule this territory! You can't just-"

"I can enforce the law because the people here give me the power too." Redglare pulled out a pulsing cube, eyes narrowing. "I'm declaring your verdict, Zachariah. Since you are not only a present danger to everyone within this territory with your violent tendencies, and your apparent unwillingness to change them, you will be incarcerated until further notice. We'll see if you shape up after 40 years."

"Wait, don't-"

A flash of light from the cube silence further protest, the ghost disappearing instantly. The crowd hushed at the display, shifting in their seats. Redglare looked out to the crowd.

"Case dismissed."

The ghosts got up to mingle, while other groups moving out in a hurry. He suspected that they were friends with that guy who got 40 years. He couldn't think on it too much as while he was distracted by the variety of ghosts here, Terezi pulled him by the sleeve of his hazmat suit.

If it weren't for the fact Redglare was so fucking tall, Karkat wouldn't have been able to tell that he'd gotten closer to her until Terezi started to speak.

"Hey, mom. I brought that guy I mentioned that was involved with… well, y'know what I'm talking about." The scaly girl's casual way of speaking to her mother almost felt inappropriate considering the earlier display, but they are family. "All of them. Including Nepeta's stuff."

"Is that so?" Her tone was a lot softer and when her gaze turned to him, it wasn't out of suspicion or malice. It only comforted Karkat a little, as he knew she could lock him up in that box anytime. Redglare's eyes wandered over his form. "Have to admit, I wasn't sure what to expect. A little on the scrawny side."

Indignance washed over Karkat, but he held his tongue. "I hear that a lot." It came out nervous, something he couldn't help but kick himself for. "And to be fair, I had some help stopping all of that stuff."

"It doesn't sound like that was the case during your little stint with Skulker." Ms. Pyrope (which he hoped he could call her without being smite where he stood) was almost amused. "What made you want to fight a walking armory so much, anyway?"

"He had a teenage girl in a cage. Who wouldn't want to throw hands after seeing that?" The sarcasm came out before his mind caught up with his mouth. "Plus, he was defeated by a gorilla instead of me or Nepeta, so the scoreboard isn't exactly decided there."

"True, true." Redglare chuckled. Karkat almost dared himself to think he passed some sort of test, though he remained on his toes. "Though I'm not here to question you about that. Or the incident involving my daughter's amulet either."

Terezi winced at that. Looks like her mother had caught on after all.

"I'm guessing since my daughter brought you here that you already know what this is about?"

"Yeah. You want me as a witness for the Serket's trial to help determine a punishment." Karkat shuffled his feet, still trying his best to be respectful. "Since I'd rather they didn't come barreling out of the Ghost Zone for revenge, I figured it would best I came here."

"Not like they'd get out of here for long. Then we can have attempted murder on their rap sheet." Terezi scoffed, though quieted at the look from her mother. "Hey, it's true. Cool band names or not, they pulled some shit."

"Kids these days and their taste in music." Ms. Pyrope tutted, though it was in good nature. It was switched quickly to something more fitting to her title as judge. "Though, I'm ashamed to admit, the Serket case isn't the only problem here- Mr. Phantom, is it?"

"Just Phantom is fine." Karkat straightened up at that. Of course there was something else to this crap. "What else did you want to talk about?"

"I suppose I want to know why you seem to hang out in the human world." She leaned forward, making sure he could look into her eyes. "Especially since, from what my daughter told me, there's actual ghost hunters within this "Amit Park."

…Yeah, that would be one of her first questions, wouldn't it? Karkat, even if knowing that made perfect sense, still felt his skin crawl. If it wasn't for Terezi's warning, he would've felt the urge to lie.

"There's a lot of stuff going on there and ghosts keep slipping through the portal. I've been trying to keep an eye on things." It was as close to the truth as possible, but he could feel her dissatisfaction with it.

Eyes narrowed only slightly at that admission, but Redglare left it at that. "I suppose I'll figure out more as this trial goes on." She flicked her eyes over to Terezi. "Are you willing to be his legal counsel as the trial goes forward? He is a key part of this."

"Wait, what?" Terezi went rigid herself, looking at her mom like she went crazy. "You're letting me participate? I thought I'd have to wait a few more years until I was allowed to do that."

"Considering you've brought in two criminals at your age, it seems like you're ready for this." Redglare didn't seem too surprised to see her daughters shock. "Of course, I can't play favorites here, so your sister's going to be defending the Serkets."

That took the wind out of the girl's wings, though not enough to dim the excitement completely.

Karkat was pretty sure this wasn't how human court was run, but he didn't feel like complaining. At least Terezi should know what to expect, or at least know how procedure is done.

Though he couldn't help but feel like he was still on trial here. Redglare's wayward glance towards him made him feel like bacteria under a microscope. About to be studied to hell and back.

"When do we exactly start this. I don't have a place to be, but just in case." His father wouldn't be home all day, but he didn't want to worry the others too much if he had to stay here a while. "Considering there's a good amount of shit to go through, I don't think it'll be a speedy trial."

"I figured you'd want to get this out of the way, so I kept the schedule clear. There aren't any other pressing trials right now, so," Redglare raised her hand, getting into a snapping motion. "Let's get this show started. Everyone's waiting for it."

When she snapped, Karkat could feel the entire courthouse move, yet somehow remain stationary. Even though he hadn't moved from his spot in front of Ms. Pyrope, he was suddenly at one of the tables, Terezi beside him. She didn't appear bothered by the sudden case of teleportation, even though he certainly was. Redglare was within her own seat, of course.

It was also the crowd behind them that bothered Karkat. Their chattering had suddenly turned to silence, a variety of eyes staring down the aisle at them. Redglare's comment about everyone waiting for this made him wonder if it was the trial itself that interested them, himself, or the rumor of the open portal. He really hoped it was the first one, because he doubted he could deal with the latter two.

Redglare stopped any further noise with a clearing of her throat, standing up.

"We stand here today, facing a particularly interesting trial. One that involves not only one of the territories you entrust me to enforce law in, but one that concerns the realm outside of this one." It was fairly dramatic, though there wasn't any mirth in it. All the attention was on her at this point. "As such, I'd like to make sure that everyone here follows the rules more so than usual. We have several special ghosts here today, on both sides of the bench."

She motioned towards Karkat. "On one end, we have the ghost called Phantom, the one bringing up most of the charges towards the defendants. He'll be represented by my youngest. Make sure to remember that she is as dangerous as I am and was able to help bring the defendants in."

"On the other hand though," She snapped her fingers once more and people could feel space change as the two Serkets appeared on the other side, another figure with them. She looked down at those two, as neutrally as she could. "We have our defendants. Aranea and Vriska Serket have been accused of mind control, mass panic, and assault of several people. _All_ in the human world."

Murmurs rose up but fell quickly as Ms. Pyrope looked towards the crowd.

"We'll be figuring out how exactly to punish these two today. Especially since this is a special case." Redglare sat down, steepling her hands as she looked down towards the two tables. "And I think it's about time to begin."

Karkat gulped, ignoring the glare Vriska sent his way.

God, how did he get himself into this mess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Redglare is the Walker of this dimension. Maybe a little more forgiving, though just as law abiding. Lawful neutral would work.
> 
> Hopefully you all enjoy this and the upcoming court drama. See you all next chapter!


	18. The Verdict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how to feel about this chapter, but I think I balance everything well enough to keep it interesting. Hopefully you all think so as well, though I can't change your opinion if you don't.
> 
> Either way, there'll be more stuff in the authors note at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter!

Karkat figured that court room drama wasn't going to be a part of his life unless he needed to/got sued at some point in the future. Unfortunately, avoiding it was apparently going to be impossible.

At least when Vriska tried to leap over the table to strangle him, someone knocked her back to stop her from trying.

"Vriska Serket, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down. Outbursts like that will get you held in contempt of court." Redglare had shifted into business mode completely, no room for nonsense in her courtroom. She looked over towards the person that held the girl down. "Latula, have you talked with the defendants before the case, or do you need more time to prepare?"

"No mo- I mean, ma'am."

Karkat raised an eyebrow, wondering where the hell the new girl came from. It didn't take much thought to figure this was Terezi's sister. Same hair color, eye color, and she even had the same scales. The only real differences were the fact her hair was much longer, reaching down her back, and her outfit looked more like a jumpsuit in some cases. He couldn't help but get a real skater girl off of her, though he didn't know what that meant.

"Terezi, Phantom, seeing as how I had to start this very quickly, I will give you time to get your facts straight. While you do that, the Serkets will tell me their accounts of what happened." The courtroom seemed to shift subtly, the sound drowning out slowly as she continued to speak. "I'd also like to remind; I know when people lie. Get your stories straight and stick to it."

The two stayed silent as a bubble invisibly formed around them, as if hiding them from view and deafening themselves to the outside world. Terezi relaxed as it formed, sighing deeply.

"Thank god. I knew she was going to let us prepare, but I was worried for a second there." She brought out some papers, stacking them up as if to appear professional. "Alright, let's keep this simple. As long as we stick to the simple version of you finding Vriska causing chaos in the human world, we should get her under some kind of punishment that would keep her under control. I don't know about Aranea, but maybe we could-"

"Wait, wait." Karkat waved around, pointing at the translucent bubble they were in. "What the hell is this? How's your mom doing this?"

Terezi looked irritated for a second before waving around at not only the bubble, but the courtroom itself. "This place is part of her lair. It's not only the place they live, but their entire domain, something they can manipulate while inside. My mom happens to have a very precise control over hers that allows us to have some privacy."

"Shit, do I have one of those?" Karkat wasn't exactly excited about that thought, but he figured there would be some use for it. At least, maybe he could use it for storage? Something else?

"Maybe if you actually came in here more often, you might get one. Can we get on with the case, though, instead of talking about living arrangements?" She pointed at the Serkets, who were actively talking to Redglare, while arguing with each other about certain facts. "We need to plan things out so those two don't get off and they try to kill you for stopping them."

"Fine, sorry. Just new information." Karkat ignored the instinct to grab his notebook and write down the new information. He put his hands in front of him, getting serious. "It should be easy to get Vriska down, but what about Aranea? Wasn't she doing something wrong with, y'know, harvesting people's emotions?"

"Kind of." Terezi waved her hand in the air vaguely, a frustrated look on her face. "While Vriska was definitely going low-key obsession-crazy and abusing her power, the only times Aranea did anything with her powers that could be considered harmful was when we were fighting her."

"Then how do we get her under control then? She said that she was trying to stop Vriska, but she didn't seem to be actively doing anything about it." Karkat looked over the young woman, eyeing her. She seemed perfectly calm under Redglare's gaze, though her expression showed some level of frustration.

"Exactly." Terezi slammed her hand onto the table, grin widening. "By all accounts, Vriska is still an underaged ghost that hasn't physically or emotionally aged past seventeen years old. Aranea, seeing as how there's no one else around, is practically her legal guardian. We can force her to get more active in Vriska's life, preventing her from actively hurting anyone."

"Seems simple enough. It's better than nothing, I guess." Karkat looked around, a feeling of dread seeping in. "You know, this isn't going exactly as I thought it would. I've only watched court drama's on tv, so I'm not an expert, but I don't know if this is how human court is run."

"My mom tries to keep a fair and balanced system that takes into account all sorts of systems of law." Terezi wrote something onto her paper, not looking up from it. "We also have to consider that a lot of the people we sentence around here are spirits of the dead. Like I'm sure you've heard, ghosts are emotional creatures. Things can get dramatic easily, so some leeway has to be accounted for."

They talked some more about any strategies they could come up with for the trial, but before long, the bubble began to dissipate. Senses returning to them, the two looked up at Redglare, face neutral as it always was as she looked down on them.

"Do you believe you've had enough time to talk you two?" After Karkat and Terezi nodded, Redglare adjusted herself, sitting upright as she adjusted her own notes.

"Now," She tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes, which shined brighter as if activated to do so. "Please tell me your account of the incidents that happened in 'Amity Park.'"

* * *

"Do you think we should've let him go?"

"I don't know." Aradia tapped her foot against the floor, frowning deeply at Sollux's question. They'd both been pretty worried, despite trusting Terezi completely. "This is her mom. It's not like she's bringing him straight to an execution."

"I'm sure he'll be alright." Horuss piped up, working on the Serkets trinkets. "Redglare is known to be tough, but fair. She wouldn't do anything untoward towards him unless he legitimately did something wrong."

"I'm just surprised there is a law system. From what you guys told us, you guys don't have a unified government in there." Sollux tossed up a ball into the air, projects set aside. He was doing his best to keep himself busy. "Guess you got to have something, I guess."

"It's more of a territory-based thing. Redglare was a decently powerful ghost and only got more so when more ghosts decided to bow to her judgement." Horuss put down the eyepatch, lifting his goggles up to rub at his eyes. "No one will touch him either while she's in her territory. That's simply how it works."

"Wait, she got more powerful after gaining some territory? How does that work?" Aradia picked up a stray pencil. She figured when (if) Karkat came back, he'd appreciate some information they were able to get.

Horuss figured now was a good time to take a break, putting down the tools. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "It's a bit complicated. There's a variety of ways to get power within the Infinite Realms, most varied and convoluted. Training and ectoplasm powered artifacts are a good way to do this, but there are others. In Redglare's case, it's getting people to recognize you as a leader, having them follow under your banner."

Sollux stopped tossing the ball for a second, thinking hard. "That sounds like a videogame mechanic. Is it like those Civilization games where if you take over a country, you not only get their resources, but all of the power involved with it?"

"Somewhat," The friendly ghost waved his hand in the air, emphasizing the vagueness of it. "In the short run, it does boost a person's power. It depends on what _level_ of authority they figure you to be, whether you're the enforcer of the law or absolute ruler. Redglare is the former in this situation, meaning she has a modicum of power more than other ghosts."

"So, does that mean we sent Karkat to a very powerful ghost that he could easily piss off?" Aradia didn't like the silence that Horuss provided. "Pleas answer me."

"Like I keep saying; Redglare is _tough,_ but _fair."_ Horuss sounded pretty confident in that statement, a rare change to his normal cadence. "As long as Karkat is truthful and doesn't try to fool her outright, there's a miniscule chance she'd try to do anything to him."

Aradia tried to reassure herself with that, but that still didn't allay all her fears.

But Karkat was a good person. Maybe she was just overreacting.

* * *

It didn't honestly take too long to tell his side of the story, albeit with some things not mentioned. It honestly probably wasn't ethical court behavior, but as long as they told the truth, Karkat figured it was okay.

From the looks of things, Redglare was still digesting things. Vriska had tried to interrupt several times during the proceedings but was shut down by Aranea every single time. Latula, who'd been upbeat at first, seemed to already be tired of the Serkets.

"This is bullshit!" Vriska was finally able to get out, slamming her hands onto the table. "I'm not going to say I didn't do anything, but I was just making sure I stayed alive out there! It's not my fault this guy had a problem with it."

"We aren't judging anything about your survival methods, Vriska, we're judging how you handled things outside of it." Redglare's glare shut the girl up. It was obvious her patience was wearing thin. "And while I do have some issues with how Phantom here handled things, it does sound like you were starting to get out of line. I know obsessions are harder to control for younger ghosts, but that isn't an excuse."

"Uh, excuse me?" Karkat figured he should take the heat off of Vriska. "What exactly did I do wrong here? I did my best to make sure nobody got seriously hurt and all, so I don't know what you're talking about."

Redglare's patience returned, if only slightly. "Phantom, how long has it been since you formed exactly?"

The question caused him and Terezi to stiffen, though Karkat quickly answered.

"I've been dead a month." The answer caused the older woman to wince. "I'm coming to terms with some shit. I don't exactly know a lot of things just yet."

"Then your actions are understandable then." The judge leaned back, face morphing into a sympathetic one. "It's usually suggested that you go to someone in authority within the Infinite Realms before trying to do something like this. I don't know why you decided to engage these two instead of going to me, but I'm assuming you wanted to get them out of the human realm as soon as possible."

Karkat simply nodded, deciding not to add onto it.

"This does make me wonder who exactly is taking care of you at this time, assuming you're not already eighteen." Redglare narrowed her eyes at him for a second before deciding to move on. "Serket's, would you mind explaining your earlier statement on surviving out in the human world?"

"Ah, right." Aranea started, nervous now that the attention was on her. "It was actually not long after we formed that we started to figure out some strange aspects of our powers. Despite dying at different times, the exact time our formations were different enough that we formed together almost."

"We accidentally found a natural portal not long after," Vriska continued, frowning for a brief moment. _"Figuring out_ what happened to us. Didn't exactly stay long enough in Limbo to actually learn much."

Karkat looked at Terezi at the mention of the new name. The scaly ghost shrugged. She wrote an explanation down quickly stating that every ghost had a different name for the Ghost Zone and that was probably hers.

"Either way, we just found ourselves in real world, dead, and starting to feel weak." Vriska shrugged. "Not exactly the best days in our lives. Well, after lives. We were scared out of our heads, pretty much."

"It was an accident that we realized how we'd survive out in human world." Aranea scratched one of her hands, treading down memory lane. "Vriska was trying to figure out her powers while also showing off to a few people. We'd started to… well, fade at one point and we were starting to get desperate. Apparently that was enough for her to stop fading, having people pay attention like she was the center of the universe."

"And in your case?"

Aranea stopped. "I was near a breakup when it happened. I was trying to focus and make sure I didn't just disappear on people when I heard a couple arguing. Something about one of them cheating, I'm not sure. Whatever it was, the end result was a really devastating split. I just… waited there near the partner that stayed behind. I was soaking in all of his misery, something I only figured out later."

"That's what we went with for a while. I picked up guitar again and started playing shows, and Aranea started working counseling jobs. Best way to soak up attention and misery." Vriska jerked a thumb towards Karkat, souring. "Then this idiot came along-"

"No name calling in my courtroom, Vriska." Redglare cut through the remaining insults. "What happened out in the human world is not something he's liable for. Can you honestly say that you didn't get out of control?"

"I was trying to find something permanent! It's not like I actually hurt anybody." Vriska slammed her hands onto the table again, ice powers acting up. She glared at the judge, frost seeping into the wood.

"…Nobody?"

Karkat didn't mean to say that out loud. It still came out though, indignant rage seeping out. Aranea seemingly recognized it, going stiff as Karkat's glare washed over the Serket's.

"You sent an entire crowd of people at a group of officers the first time I saw you." Karkat desperately tried to keep the ectoplasm away from his hands and was failing. "You're _lucky_ those officers weren't armed because of some laws in our town preventing them from doing so. You're _lucky_ that I stopped the crowd from tearing those same officers apart by turning on the sprinklers. You're _lucky _that no one got hurt at the _mosh pits_ at your _fucking concert."_

He pointed at them, fist flaming with power. "You didn't hurt anyone. But that was because I was there to stop you from doing that. If I hadn't, somebody would've ended up dead. People from _**my town, who you would've HUR-"**_

Karkat suddenly felt a weight fall on him before he could take a step towards Vriska. The pressure caused his knees to buckle and his breath to catch.

"Phantom, I understand your anger, but my rules also apply to you." Redglare didn't sound as harsh as they did earlier, but they were just as heavy. "I'd suggest sitting down before letting your anger get the best of you."

"Actually, Mo- ma'am." Latula was doing her best and it was obvious this was a reoccurring problem. "This actually kind of segues to something Aranea divulged to me."

Now that confused him. Just what the hell was she talking about now? Hell, was this the first time she'd talked this entire time?

"It deals with Phantom's obsession." Latula flicked her eyes over to him and Terezi, face apologetic.

The two froze. Only Terezi said something after a few seconds.

"Shit."

* * *

"Is this all really necessary?" Heido looked over at the portable portal that Spades had brough in. She wasn't exactly willing to trust it. "I hope you tested this thing beforehand. Having it explode near a crowd of people is not going to help your reputation."

"I've tested this several times. You really think I'd bring something that could explode near a crowd of people?" At the silence, Spades glared at the Megido. "Don't answer that. Either way, you have nothing to worry about. It runs on a lot less power than the bigger portal and won't be on longer than necessary. Just enough to show that my theory works."

Xander kept an eye on the machine warily. "Just because you worked a miracle once doesn't mean you can pull it off twice." He debated kicking the damn thing before deciding that he didn't want to cause a meltdown at their local activity center. "How are you actually going to prove that this isn't some elaborate trick? It's one thing to open it in front of anyone, but…"

"I'm glad you asked, you skeptical shit." Spades ran over, grabbing a box to drag over to the other two. Grabbing the edges, he opened it with a flourish. "Take a look at my latest invention!"

The two adults leaned forward, squinting their eyes at the device he lugged over. It didn't exactly look that impressive to the untrained eye, looking more like a metal rectangle with events at the bottom and sides. Other than a pair of tanks full of air, a helmet, straps, and the interlaced gleam of green lines running around the steel box, it looked pretty simple.

"This doesn't answer my question, Spades." Xander adjusted his glasses, tilting his head as if a new angle would make sense of the invention before him. "It looks complicated, but I'm pretty sure it's just a box."

"A box that's likely to explode." Heido moved back from it, giving Spades a questioning look. "What is this, exactly? If you say it's a jetpack, I'm not sure I'll believe you."

"It isn't _really_ a jetpack, but kinda close." Spades grabbed the device, putting the straps over his shoulders. "It's more like giving people an experience of a spacewalk. It'll make you float, is what I'm saying."

"You're kidding, right?" Heido skeptical brow rose at the declaration. "You've already made a portal to another dimension. You're really going to throw more shit at them."

"At least if the portal doesn't turn on, he'll have something to show." Xander took a step back just in case the prediction of the explosion came true. "Or he could land in the ceiling. Just as much as a possibility as any."

Despite the fact nearly all of them (even Spades) expected him to shoot up, when he turned the machine on, it only started to lift him up a little. He pulled out a remote, twisting and turning some buttons so that he started to rise higher, even moving around in the air a little.

"…Goddamit, he invented hovering tech." Xander was amazed, but this was starting to become par for the course. "Are we going to have flying cars in the near future? Are we finally living out science fiction?!"

"At least it'll be better than those motor scooters they call hover boards." Heido was starting to be really glad she called up her old boss for this. The look on his face if things went well would be priceless. She shouted up at Spades as he happily hovered, messing with his invention like it was a toy. "How exactly is this going to help your demonstration?"

"I said it was like a spacewalk, right?" He shouted down at them. Spades waved at a worker that was gaping not that far away from them. "I'm thinking that I go the magician route and have someone in the crowd volunteer to take a brief look in with a camera. I wouldn't let them go in far, but just enough so they can confirm its real."

"And the oxygen tanks?" That had set off an alarm bell in her head, even if it was most likely harmless.

"I checked the inside of the Ghost Zone for its atmospheric conditions. People can live and breathe in there easily, but I'd rather not risk some kind of ectoplasm contamination." Spades may have started getting lost in the novelty of his own invention, trying to do some tricks with it. "No one really needs a suit to step inside, but I don't know what'll happen if someone breaths in ectoplasm."

"I really don't know how people are going to react." Xander put his face in his hands, the pressure of the situation closing in on him. "They'll react, though. I can promise you that."

"That's exactly what I'm going for!" Spades laughed loudly, which honestly didn't help the mad scientist vibe he was giving off.

Xander did his best to take several breaths before Heido pulled him away from the scene. Spades still kept testing the hover box, messing with it while ignoring the looks from any passersby.

"Are we really going to let him do this?" Xander eventually asked after calming down a little. "I'm glad he's got the breakthrough he's looking for, but this is going to change a lot of shit. Not just scientifically, but philosophically, and maybe religiously."

"Yeah, you got me there. It'll certainly put this town on the map." Heido spared a glance towards their friend. "History books too. But that's neither here nor there."

"How?!" Xander waved his arms, borderline frantic. "Every religious leader is going to excommunicate his ass when they hear about this! Fringe science is going to be real science! Riots in the streets, dogs and cats living together-"

"Xander." Heido put a finger over his mouth, annoyed while still remaining stoic. "There's nothing we can do about that. If people can't handle the truth, that's their problem. Plus, Spades has set his mind on this. We both know he's not going to change it now, so we might as well be on the ground floor of all this when everything does change."

Xander wanted to argue with her so badly right now, but no real ones could come to his throat. She wasn't wrong by any accounts, and that honestly scared him even more.

He couldn't stop this. He might as well participate in what's going to become history soon enough.

Xander looked over at Spades, physically and emotionally exhausted. "He's going to be considered one of the greatest minds of our age. Isn't he?"

Spades was trying to do flips with the hover tech now, cackles reverberating across activity center.

"Yep." Heido sighed, the statement not lost on her. "God help us all."

* * *

Karkat figured the situation would come up, but he was desperately hoping he'd be wrong. It was weird being on the receiving end of a 'cross-examination,' though he was doing his goddamn best not to crack under the pressure.

"Okay, Mr. Phantom." Latula started and yeah, he was right about the skater girl vibe. He could've sworn that 'dude' was implied somehow in her voice alone. "Can you explain to me what exactly happened between you and my client, Aranea, here when you found out she was a ghost."

"I was looking for her as a way to stop Vriska nonviolently. I figured a relative would have a better time talking her down then a stranger." Karkat wasn't sure how to feel about being called mister, but he didn't dwell on it. "I didn't think of the possibility that Aranea could be dead too until she hypnotized me."

"And how was it that you broke out of her mind control, then?" She was doing a good job acting professional, though she clearly wasn't a fan of it. She adjusted the pair of blocky, red sunglasses on her face.

"I," Karkat stopped, thinking his next words over carefully. "I overheard a conversation they were having on the phone. I may have heard the fact they were doing for a while and it set something off enough for me to breakout."

"Was this 'something' involved with your obsession?" Latula tilted her head, looking into his eyes. He briefly wondered if Terezi or Latula had their moms' power too. "What exactly _is_ your obsession?"

"Objection." Terezi stated, raising her hand. "A ghost's obsession is a private matter and does not relate to the matters today."

"Sustained."

"I do think it was related to my obsession." Karkat gulped. "I don't honestly know what it is, but I have some idea. Though I'm not sure how this plays out here."

"It plays out here because, according to Aranea, you nearly killed her in your obsessive state." The young woman tilted her head even more when Karkat winced. "I'm assuming that this is the truth."

"…Yes." Karkat sighed, balling his hands into fists. "But in my defense? Aranea had talked about how she'd been doing this for a while with Vriska. How Vriska even broke their routine. I also caught her on the tail end of talking to one particular student."

"Xefros Dammek." Terezi interjected, bring the attention onto her. "According to my client, this one particular human has a particularly difficult living situation, along with some personal problems that only make it worse. Aranea had supposedly used that as a way to recharge herself, in what we believe was a desperate attempt to make up for the bump in their schedule."

"Is that true, Aranea?"

Aranea tried not to jump at Redglare's voice. She sighed herself eventually and nodded.

Vriska seemed to get riled up as the blame was put on her sister. "She was just trying to survive, you idiots! So was I! Don't blame her for this shit!" She pointed at Karkat accusingly. "Plus, he almost admitted to trying to kill her earlier. Why is she getting blamed?"

"Vriska." Latula was the one to silence the blonde this time. "Sit down. I've been doing my best here and you're not helping your case."

"She won't need to do so much more, Latula." Redglare interrupted, causing the room to hush. "I've heard enough to give a verdict."

"Aranea Serket." The young woman nerves were sent on edge at the sound of her name coming up. "While you did fight Phantom and his associates in the human world, technically you started none of those fights. Neither did you abuse your powers. However, you have shown some neglect in controlling your sister and helping make sure her own powers did not go out of control. Those action fall under your responsibility has her guardian.

"Your punishment will be that you will live within the Infinite Realms until further notice. You may keep your job at the school for now and visit the human world, as long as your feeding does not worsen the conditions of the students. I would also suggest finding a better job that would lead to less moral dissonance in the long run." Redglare shifted her gaze to the younger Serket. "Vriska?"

"What?" The rockstar ghost glared at the judge with contempt.

"Even though it has been shown you were going mad under the power of your obsession, this does not absolve you of your crimes. Your willful harm against certain humans, attempts to take control of Amity Park, and increasingly antisocial behavior have shown that." Redglare intensified her glare. "However, due to your age, I cannot imprison you. As of right now, you are forbidden to leave the Infinite Realms unless chaperoned by a trusted ghost, and you will be monitored heavily. You will also have a dampener placed on your powers until further notice. Any more disruptions will result in your incarceration."

Karkat felt relief enter him at the verdicts, even if he felt Aranea got off light. Then again, she did need to feed in order to exist, so he could understand why Redglare chose to do that. Maybe he can try and extend an olive branch and find her a place where her misery eating wouldn't be a bad thing.

Those thoughts stopped as soon as Redglare, still in business mode, shifted her gaze to him. "And now I decide what I do with you, Phantom."

"Me?" The statement threw him off guard, causing Karkat to stumble on his words. "What am I being charged with? I didn't do shit!"

"You're not being charged with anything. However, I am planning on relocating you." Redglare didn't seem to register the outburst. "As far as what you and my daughter have been telling me, you've been living in the human world since your death. And with ghost hunters around and no obvious guardian, I can't let you live out there with a clear conscience."

"Objection!" Terezi jumped in. She wasn't expecting this turn either. "I never said he didn't have a guardian! He has a dad that live out in the human world. It's not like he's actually living alone."

"Yes, but that doesn't erase the danger of the ghost hunters, Terezi." Ms. Pyrope started to break out of the Redglare persona, her voice getting softer. "If anything, his activities and lack of control over his own obsession call into question his own abilities as a guardian."

"You can't keep me here. I came here to help with the Serket case and that's it." Karkat stood up from the table, chair scraping on the floor as he did so. "I appreciate the concern, but you have another thing coming if you think I'm going to let you do that shit."

The Redglare persona instantly overpowered Ms. Pyrope.

"You're in my domain, punk." She said slowly. "I have authority to all ghosts that pass through it. Including you."

Karkat turned to go, only to notice that the door outside of her lair had disappeared. Panic entered his system as he looked towards Terezi, who still seemed to be put off balance by the change in focus.

Focus, Karkat, focus. He thought hard on how to get out of here. Redglare had complete control of this place, along with a huge difference in power compared to him. Terezi wouldn't go against her own mother for a guy she'd known for a couple of weeks at best. For fuck's sake, _think._

"What if I wasn't a ghost then?"

Karkat had thrown that out there on a whim, but he almost took some satisfaction on how it threw everyone else off.

"Excuse me?" Redglare wasn't angry anymore, having it replaced by pure confusion.

"What if I wasn't a ghost?" Karkat knew this would have consequences later, but fuck it, this was the only plan that would work. "You can't detain a human. Those are out of your reach. I mean, if you tried, you'd be breaking your own laws."

"Vantas, don't you dare." Terezi's hand was on his arm as soon as she caught on to his plan. "There are a lot of ghosts here. You do this, everyone in the Infinite Realms will know."

"If I don't, my dad will storm into the Ghost Zone looking for me, armed to the fucking teeth." He grabbed her hand and squeezed, silently pleading with her. "Just let me do this. I'll figure out what to do after this."

Terezi hesitated, shaking her head a little before growling and letting him go. Redglare's eyes narrowed seeing the interaction.

"If you were human," She finally started, slowly stating it. "Then I wouldn't be able to keep you here. Most of my laws cannot take you into account unless I revise them and get them approved by community review."

Karkat shrugged, all smug and confident despite what he was about to do next. "Alright. Then I'm not a ghost."

Rings of light appeared around his waist, causing everyone in the room to gasp. The change to his human form was quick and he couldn't help but not how the atmosphere felt different when compared to his ghost form. But that wasn't the thing to focus on right now.

He brushed his hair out of his eyes, smirking at Redglare with glint in his red eyes. "Am I free to go now, Judge Redglare?"

Ms. Pyrope opened her mouth several times, trying to find something to say to all of this. Her emotions were going through a game of roulette, switching from anger, shock, and several other unidentifiable ones in quick succession.

She eventually grabbed her gavel, hitting it against the bench.

"Case dismissed." Her voice was like gravel as she did, eyes never leaving the boy at all.

Neither did the other ones in the room.

* * *

Terezi hid him away after the case was over, turning them both invisible and hiding in a part of the lair that wasn't allowed to the public. They stayed there for a couple of hours, waiting out any of the ghosts that were waiting for him. It was starting to get pretty late in the day, though, so they figured it would be a bout time to take their chances.

"That was a real stupid idea. I get it, but still." Terezi massaged her temples. She hadn't been too mad at him for the stunt, but she certainly wasn't happy about it. "I hope you know what you're doing. You just invited hell to your doorstep, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Karkat had officially got off the high of shocking so many people, settling into pure anxiety at this point. It made him tense, weird, and even a little sweaty. "I'll figure something out. You don't need to worry too much."

"Too late for that." Terezi punched his arm as they finally walked outside the door. "Maybe if you stopped getting your dumbass into so many fucked situations, I'll stop."

The two laughed, but it was cut short as a voice cleared their throat not far away from them. They looked to see Ms. Pyrope leaning against one of the columns, stoic and reserved.

"Can I talk to you for a second, Phantom?" It came out politely, though it sounded more like a command due to how she spoke. She looked towards her daughter. "Alone, preferably."

Terezi didn't look to happy to see her mom right now, mostly because of the stunt from earlier. However, she backed off.

"I'll check if any stragglers are still left." She supplied, already floating away before Karkat could stop her. This left him alone with the older ghost, setting him on edge.

Neither said anything for a moment as they stared each other down. It was Redglare that broke it first, breathing out and easing her posture.

"I'd like to apologize." It was curt, but it was still polite. "In my attempt to make things safer for you, I've invited further disaster into your life. And for that, I'm sorry."

"It's not like I didn't get where you were coming from." Karkat shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "It would sound pretty bad to someone outside of this. But I couldn't stay here. They need me back home."

"Right, right." Ms. Pyrope adjusted her posture, standing straighter. The height difference was still imposing to him, but it didn't feel like she was looking down on him. "You said that you didn't really know your obsession was, correct?"

Karkat nodded.

"When you lost control, was it because the Serkets were hurting people?" Ms. Pyrope narrowed her eyes further, studying his expression while she questioned. "That people were in danger because of them? And that there was no one else that could stop it?"

Karkat took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Yes." He eventually said, feeling that all of it was correct.

"Then I actually think you know what is. And I honestly wish you the best in that." She clapped a hand on his shoulder, walking back into her lair. "I'll try and slow the spread of information. Hopefully, you won't have to deal with anything too badly going forward."

Karkat felt the urge to leave it at that but stopped. He had one thing to say first.

"Hey, Redglare?" The woman stopped, listening intently. "If you want to make it up to me, find someone called Lisa Littlemeyer. She was one of the first ghosts to appear in Amity Park and the first one I had to send back. I don't know what happened after she did. Could you find her and see if you can help her adjust?"

"I'll do my best." Karkat could've swore he heard a smile in that reply. "Make it home safe."

"I will." Karkat floated upwards and outwards to find Terezi.

It was time to go home.

* * *

From a vantage point not far from the courthouse, a half-constructed metal suit sent a recording. Skulker had made sure that he wasn't seen by Redglare and was thanking whatever gods were in the Infinite Realms that no one noticed him.

"Is this enough information, sir?" He asked it carefully, to not risk any possible anger. "It seems I won't have a lot more time. Does it work for you?"

"Oh, its more than enough, Skulker." The voice did sound satisfied, a low purr coming from it. "He's developing pretty fast. I certainly think I have a hold on his personality now. Are you sure you weren't able to find out where he was staying?"

"I only tried to stick around during the fights. Any longer and he'd just tear up this suit. Not to mention the lion's brat and dragon's kid are good at tracking." The robotic ghost grumbled. He couldn't risk anything until he could actually pay his mechanic. He had to make do for now.

"You won't need to worry about that anytime soon. Darkleer should be easy to convince to make you another suit." The voice's promises were usually kept, so Skulker sighed in relief. "I may even have him make several. Something tells me this town will keep us both busy."

"Thank you." The robot ghosts grin widened at that. "It's been so long since I've been on a proper hunt."

"And you'll be back on it in time, my friend." The voice chuckled. Some movement could be heard in the background, causing the laughter to die down. "I'll have to cut this call short. I'm going to be very busy soon, so I'll have to call you back."

"Understandable. Have a nice day, sir." Skulker clicked the communicator off, sighing.

He really didn't envy the whelp right now. He had no idea what was coming his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two character interpretations that I need you to realize when it comes to how I characterize certain people;
> 
> Vriska: She's not one to learn lessons easily and can sometimes be allergic to developing as a person. She'll appear more often in the future, while also dealing with some hard truths as well.
> 
> Redglare: She's a woman of conviction and if she sees something wrong, she'll try to fix it. Karkat, as a random teenage ghost running around with no supervision as he fights people more dangerous than him, she's rightfully worried. Too bad in this case, this one happens to be half-human.
> 
> With that out of the way, I have two more playlists for you guys! I built them around Nepeta and Terezi this time. I'm not as sure about these ones, but I think I got it generally how I wanted it. I try not to copy songs between playlists, but some overlap should be expected.
> 
> Terezi: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eB2CCr8B73cmKUROq4UI3
> 
> Nepeta: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5tyqffhmZgVN2r24dB1OMN
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you enjoy the playlists too! Recommend this to your friends if you think they'll like either!


	19. Bitter Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here it is. The big reveal of several things going forward. I have a feeling some of you are going to be surprised by all of this, but I think you'll like it all the same. Not to mention some favorites of yours are coming in to the cast now.
> 
> On an unrelated note, there's something I want your opinion on. It for stuff not related to the fic (kinda), so don't worry about it. I'll explain at the end.
> 
> Okay, let's get on with it. Enjoy the chapter!

Karkat would deny being excited about seeing some of Redglare's library. Admittedly, not all of it was about the Ghost Zone, but there were still several there he could see.

"Jesus, this is a lot of books." He floated near a shelf, noting some of the stranger titles. "I'm not an English major, but I'm pretty sure Hemingway didn't write this while he was alive."

"He didn't. I'm not sure if it's all still around, but he certainly added a few things to the Infinite Realms collection of lost literature when he died." Terezi was checking over the books herself, somehow, making sure everything was in order. "A lot of literature that gets lost gets added in here somehow. Nobody's found anything too big yet, but a few series were finished here rather than the human world."

"Library of Alexandria, here I come." Karkat mumbled, making a note of that for later. He looked further on the bookshelf, noticing something concerning. "There isn't a lot of maps here. Do cartographers not turn into ghosts or something?"

"The Infinite Realms tend to change or cycle around. Some landmasses can drift towards each other, actually." Terezi shrugged, tapping her fingers on her cane. "A lot people don't really put in the effort. Kind of a lack of scientists, really."

Karkat grunted at that, checking over every title on the shelf. Neither of them said anything for a little while until Terezi finally sighed. A patient irritation flittered across her face.

"You know you can't stay in here." Terezi's tapping on the cane got a little louder after saying it. "That presentation's going to happen whether you show up or not. You might as well be there to mitigate any damage."

"I know, I know." Karkat rolled his eyes, sighing bitterly. He had been doing his best to distract himself from it all day, but nothing really worked. "I tried to find a way to put it off, but my dad's been excited about this. Even recited his speech ten times in the mirror this morning."

Terezi sighed. She picked up a book from the shelf, handing it off to him. "Here. This book has some basic information about our world in it, including some stuff about the Furthest Ring. It's not that in depth, but it's certainly a start."

Karkat hesitantly took the book, knowing what it meant. "You're literally going to kick me out if I don't force myself to go there, aren't you?"

"If I have to." Terezi smirked, twirling her cane cockily. "Now, you gonna get the hell out of here, Karkles, or are we going to have a rematch?"

The halfa rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He put the book away in his backpack, sighing. "Fine. I know when I'm not wanted. Feel free to message us during the shitshow, though. We're going to need something to make us forget what'll happen after."

"I'll make sure check on you guys. Nepeta too." Terezi clapped Karkat on the back, causing him to stumble in the air. "Don't die."

"I'll do my best." The ghostly teen saluted her sarcastically as he exited the home. He already knew his way back. "I don't have a good track record of staying alive, though."

Terezi barely laughed at that, which he considered a win in his book. He kept floating towards the opening of the portal, looking over the cover of the book.

Today was going to be interesting.

* * *

The activity center was surprisingly packed for what was essentially a high school reunion. Somehow, despite what was going to happen in a little bit, Karkat couldn't help but relish it.

Having the portal active may have meant more ghosts streaming into Amity Park, at least people would know his dad wasn't crazy. Well, not as crazy as they thought. Spades would get on national news for this, that was for damn sure.

"Well, if this doesn't make it all feel real." Speaking of his dad, Spades was the most excited he's ever been. Anticipation turned to full on excitement after seeing the amount of people. "I know people say succeeding out of spite ain't healthy, but it's going to be worth seeing all their faces."

"Yeah," Karkat didn't even know most of these people, yet a small part of him wanted to see how they'd react too. "I'm expecting a riot. You didn't happen to grow up in a religious district, right?"

"I don't know, I sure as hell never went to church." That explained a lot. A religious man wouldn't take so much pride in the amount of people he was going to shock today. Spades picked out an iPad, looking through the guest list. "This is a better turnout than I thought. The Fenton's, Foley's, and even the Manson's came."

"I don't even know half of those people." Karkat raised an eyebrow. "I'm starting to think you just invited random people for the sake of drama."

"Why not? They'll be talking about this for decades. Might as well give them a chance to say they were here for it." Spades kept scrolling down, eyes perusing the names carefully. He eventually stopped, though, eyes catching onto something. "Huh."

"Something wrong? That Doc Scratch guy's here, right?" Karkat tried to look over his dad's shoulder to see the screen. He barely registered the fact he had apparently jumped in height since he almost did it with little effort.

"Nah, he's here. Heido confirmed that." Spades turned the iPad's screen off, a weird look on his face. "Just surprised to see a couple names on there. Let's get inside."

Spades was already heading off towards the activity center, somewhat stiffly as he looked around. Like he was expecting to see someone moving around the place.

Karkat huffed, rolling his eyes as he adjusted the suit he had. Technically the event was supposed to be casual, but since he was helping his dad with the presentation, he figured dressing up for it would be a good idea. Wasn't like he was the only one dressed up either.

"Karkat!"

He turned to see Aradia and Sollux jog up to him. It only gave him a small amount of relief seeing them, considering the circumstances.

"So," Sollux dragged out the word, eyes drawn out to the crowd. A faint amount of anxiety was on his face, despite doing his best to keep cool. "This is happening. All of it is certainly happening right now."

"Real encouraging words there, Captor." Karkat dryly replied. It was a relief to hear it, though. Reminded him he wasn't the only being affected by this. "Hear anything from your parents about the set up?"

"Your dad's making sure to have a full-on demonstration. Moonwalk and everything." Aradia patted her side where her weapon was. "We're armed and ready for anything that might come out. Not sure what we'll do if anything else happens."

"He wouldn't do anything like that if he didn't have a plan, I guess." Karkat shifted. This all felt so business like by now. They really needed some type of long break after this, especially if things go off like his dad expects it to. "I'm really starting to wish I faked sick. At least I wouldn't have to be at the center of this timebomb."

"At least you can rub this in everyone's faces at school." Sollux subtly jerked his head. "Trizza and Ardata is here too. I might just livestream their reactions for the hell of it."

Karkat made sure to subtly look towards where Sollux pointed. Lo and behold, the two queen bees of the school were here, in all of their horrible glory. Okay, there was a lot of silver linings to this than he thought.

"Mind livestreaming everything then? Especially during the presentation?" He figured it would make his dad happy to reach as big an audience as they could.

Sollux wordlessly brought out his phone, waving it slightly as he walked towards the crowd. He was already messing with something, starting to film everyone around them with ease.

Aradia gave a look towards Karkat. She smiled in a way that was meant to be positive, but it only showed that she was as nervous as he was.

"Well," She shrugged, sighing as she moved towards the crowd with set path in mind. "Welcome to the panic room."

Karkat sighed, straightening out his tie with careful flourish. He felt like it was suffocating him, making him wish he had picked out the clip-on rather than actually tying up one in a knot.

He didn't even notice someone was watching him before he joined his friends inside.

* * *

The reunion had been going great, surprisingly. The halfa didn't exactly know how one of these was supposed to go, but he figured that everything was going well enough. No disasters to speak of, scientific or otherwise.

There was definitely alcohol being shared among the adults though. He could hear all of them gossiping from various points in the room, mostly about his dad. Spades never really talked about high school for some reason, something about a few accidents.

Turns out his father hadn't changed that much since his high school days. An explosion here, setting the chemistry lab on fire there, and maybe even an incident where he nearly got into a physical fight with a physics teacher. Nobody mentioned anything about casualties thankfully, so Karkat was mostly okay with it. Some of the more derogatory shit was ignored since the presentation would be enough for revenge.

It was honestly kind of exhausting. He'd taken a glass of some cider and decided to just people watch on the centers second floor balcony. He'd seen brief glances of Sollux and Aradia around, usually giving him the signal that everything was okay. He'd even seen Tethis giving him the stink eye too, so obviously she hadn't seen anything weird.

Despite his earlier worries, he honestly couldn't wait for the main event. This was boring as hell.

He debated just heading backstage right now before he heard two new voices, these much closer in age to him. Weirdly, he felt a tickle in his throat.

"I don't get why we have to stay in here. There's absolutely nothing to do." A male, but semi snotty voice. It had a strange lisp to it, messing up on the w's. "Can't even sneak any wine off the people here. Surprisingly, people in this backwater actually keep track of it."

"First of all, Mr. Grumpy Gills," A feminine and much more relaxed voice replied. "Wine tastes terrible. I don't know how you stand the stuff. Plus, I thought I said we weren't going to insult anyone here. This is a nice place if you give it a shot."

Karkat subtly looked for the voices, finding they somewhat matched his expectations.

The guy himself looked pretty snooty, wearing dark glasses and slicked back hair. Wearing some black dress pants, a dark purple shirt, completed with a scarf, he looked stereotypically preppy, with the weirdly thin body of a hipster. The only thing that broke that stereotype was the pale skin, along with a dash of royal purple decorating his hair.

His friend, though, looked considerably different. Chubby, but obviously containing some muscle behind it, she wore a pair of jean shorts and a fuchsia sweater with a matching headband. She wore a considerable amount of jewelry on her neck and hands. Her pink, coke bottle glasses, sat upon her scrunched up face as she berated the boy, dark skin shining due to the lights.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen two people our age here, Fef." The boy tapped his foot on the floor, huffing. "That's it. Even if I wanted to have fun, there ain't a lot of choices here."

"Look, it's a small town. Were you expecting Miami or something?" 'Fef' rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "Besides, aren't you interested to meet people that knew my mom and your dad in high school? It has to be interesting to see how they changed."

"If father never said anything worthwhile about it, then I'm not interested." The guy waved off the suggestion haughtily. He looked around again, a scowl forming. "And I wasn't expecting much, but I figured there'd be something. Not much else in this backwater."

Karkat frowned. He wasn't exactly the type that had a lot of pride in his town, unlike some weirdos, but he did live here. Some city boy getting all uppity about it wouldn't do in the slightest.

"Sorry to disappoint there, but she's right." Karkat sneered, taking a sip of the sparkling cider. "It certainly isn't Miami. Not sure what you expected."

'Fef' and the guy were jarred by his input, which was what he was aiming for. To the girl's credit, she seemed embarrassed while the guy only glared in response.

"Sorry about that, my friend here is just a bit of a pessimist." She elbowed her friend before he could speak what would've been an insult. "I'm Feferi Peixes. This is Eridan Ampora."

"Karkat." The halfa took another sip of cider, noting the tickle in his throat wasn't going away. His gaze lazily went between the two as he did. "Didn't know you two were on the guest list. Pretty sure dad would've mentioned if you did."

"Maybe he doesn't have good taste." Eridan adjusted his glasses, the glare never leaving his face. Karkat was starting to wonder if that was just his default. "I don't know why my dad brought us here. He didn't seem to care about it before."

"He probably just wanted to brag like my mom did." Feferi vaguely motioned to some part of the room. "I don't think I've ever seen her this spiteful. Except for that one time with the police officer. Or that seamstress."

Karkat made a mental note to look up their last names at some point. Eridan's attitude and Feferi's clothes really made him wonder if these two bathed in money. "I really wish I could say my dad wasn't doing the same thing, but I'd be lying."

"What, your father started up a successful company too?" Eridan finally had something else on his face other than frown. It was a smirk instead, which wasn't much better.

Feferi punched his side again, sighing loudly. "Shut up, he's being nice." She smiled once again and Karkat would be lying if he said it wasn't kinda cute. "Hopefully, he isn't being as insufferable."

Karkat's phone buzzed in his pocket, prompting him to pull it out. It was a text from his dad.

_Time to get ready._

He frowned. Showtime.

"Looks he's about to be." Karkat moved up from his position. "Hope you enjoy the show. My dad sure as hell will."

He heard a faint, curious goodbye from Feferi, but got a scoff from Eridan. Rolling his eyes, the halfa figured he'd be knocked down a peg or two when this was all over.

Slipping through the crowd was easy with light intangibility. The slightly drunk adults didn't seem to notice or care as he made it backstage, having no one stop him. Sending a quick text to Aradia and Sollux to get into position.

He was able to move behind the curtains to his own position when he saw his dad walk out through the curtains. Spades tapped a microphone, smiling as it worked perfectly.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." It was a cliché start, but it got the job done as the crowd quieted. Some jeers started up in the back, but they were a murmur compared to the polite silence. "I'm glad to see so many alumni here today. Of course, not all of you are alumni at my old school, but members of several scientific institutions I've worked with in the past."

The crowd seemingly realized all at once what this was and started to collectively.

"Yeah, I get it, groan all you want." Spades didn't look discouraged, starting to pace on stage. "I know my reputation. Had it since high school and I'd normally see no change in that within the next few years are so."

He stopped eventually, smirking as he waved his hand towards Karkat's direction. "That changes today."

Karkat slowly moved the portable portal, doing his best to ignore the eyes on him. Other than curious murmuring, no one was outright saying anything just yet. A brief look into the crowd and he could see those two rich kids from earlier, Feferi actually looking curious while Eridan seemingly got more skeptical by the second.

"I know I've had a few torrid moments when it comes to my experiments considering ghosts. Hell, a lot of you believe they don't exist and I'm crazy." Spades nodded smile growing wider. "Well, I kinda am. But I was able to find out where exactly they are."

Karkat didn't waste time plugging it in, taking a step back as his dad reached for a lever. He took a deep breath as he flung it downwards.

The portable portal sputtered on quick, a sound like static reverberating in center. This quieted some people down as the temperature dropped, the ectoplasm sucking the heat out of the room. Despite the lightshow, some people didn't look convinced.

"Now, you're probably all wondering whether what you're seeing up here is real." Spades waved at all of them dismissively. "Maybe you think it's a special effect, or some trick of the light. I planned for that too."

Spades snapped, projectors and screens moved out, turning on carefully. The hover pack was brought out seconds later, the connection between the two turning on.

"That's why I'm asking for a volunteer." Spades smile could almost be called dastardly considering the circumstances. Some of the crowd seemed to think so, nobody immediately throwing up their hands. "Come on, doesn't anyone want to do something for science? Your name will be in history books!"

After a few moments, one hand did rise up in the front of the crowd. "May I be of assistance?"

Spades looked towards the voice and smiled widely. "Doc Scratch, you did make it!"

Doc Scratch himself walked up to the side of the stage, confidence in his gait. Wearing a white suit, green undershirt, and red bowtie. His pale face was accentuated by his bald head, which shined under the lights of the stage.

"I'm not sure why your surprised. You had one of my old workers contact me." He moved towards the hover pack with interest, as patronizing as ever. "I figured if no matter the result, this would be interesting."

To say that Spades and Scratch had history would be an understatement. As alumni of the same college, Scratch was the skeptic to Spades believer. With competing research grants, accolades, and other academia, the two had fought on the concept of ghosts for years.

And Scratch was about to be the cherry on top of the sundae of spite.

"What does this little device of yours do, Slick? Very interesting look." Karkat started to suit him up while he talked, Scratch being way too relaxed for someone who knew Spades reputation. "I suppose I'll brave the chance of it exploding to see if it works."

"Trust me, you won't be as smug when it does." The man pulled out the device that controlled it. "Here we go!"

As soon as Spades pressed the button, Scratch was thrusted up into the air. The smug smile was indeed wiped off his face as he reacted to the jump upward by scrambling. The crowd laughed only a little at that, though, the reaction going from skepticism to quiet awe.

Karkat couldn't help but be cheeky. "What's wrong, Doc? Why would you participate if you didn't think it would work?"

He received a brief glare for that as Scratch tried to wave his hand above himself. "No wires. You-you invented hover technology. I'll have to admit, that's impressive."

"Yeah, I did." Spades signaled for Karkat to turn the portal to the side. It was mostly to make sure no one doubted that the portal was real. "Now, I'm going to see if you can do a small spacewalk for me. Last chance to back out."

Scratch twitched at that, some of the amazement from before switching back into old competitiveness from their college days. He brought the helmet down onto his face. "Fine then. Send me in and prove me wrong."

Spades cackled at that, making sure the camera was on and ready before using the controls to move the other man inside the portal.

Karkat took a deep breath, keeping a close eye on the screen. Despite the work Spades had put into, the audio feedback was still somewhat shitty. The turn from calm to audible breathing set him on edge at first, but it was calmed when it seemed like Scratch was at an unoccupied place within the Ghost Zone.

His somewhat panicked response aside, he looked over the crowd, gauging things from on the stage. Everyone was too focused on the screen to notice him.

The reaction was mixed, but silent. Most people had looks of wonder on their faces as Scratch turned to look around at the floating islands. Others, notably the conservative looking crowd, seemed more horrified with the prospect.

His eyes drifted over, eventually finding Eridan and Feferi again. He was almost taken aback with the amount of fear that showed on their faces.

A round of gasps made him look back at the screen again. He almost gasped too.

A building, almost a castle, was not far where Scratch was floating. It was far enough that Karkat figured he'd be safe, but close enough to see some details.

Covered in what appeared to be gold and green was three story building, older in architecture. It was wrapped in chains that appeared to be just as old as the rest of the building, covering it all as if something were inside. It reminded him of a tomb, a mausoleum that was meant to keep the dead keep something out, or something else within.

And a green skull, flashing all kinds of colors, sat on top of the structure, unblinking.

Karkat grabbed the rope, pulling at it before his dad could say anything. Scratch had gotten silent after seeing the tomb and he didn't want to push anything more than they already have. Scratch eventually floated out of there with little fanfare, slipping through the portal as easily as he went in.

As if a spell was broken, Spades eventually blinked, turning off the hover pack. He turned off the portal too as Scratch took off the device he'd been strapped too, frantically, if carefully.

Karkat carefully escorted the guy off stage, his gait more unstable than it had been before as Spades eventually knocked himself out of it too.

"So," A confident turn and smirk later, Spades looked at the crowd with expectation. "Who here is willing to admit they were wrong?"

At that, the room immediately descended into utter chaos.

Karkat wasn't sure what set it off first, other than his dad's bold declaration. Maybe it was the scream from the back, the woman fainting in the front, or maybe it was the shatter of glass after that waiter dropped those drinks. Whatever it was, everyone descended into yelling and panic in seconds.

After setting Scratch back down, Karkat actually had to duck as something as thrown on stage. His father was receiving the same treatment, dodging a glass of wine thrown at him.

"The hell was that for?!" Spades was answered by more food being thrown at him, causing him to grab the portal. "Kid, we're hiding out backstage! I don't know what the fuck this is about, but obviously this ain't calming down anytime soon."

Karkat would've argued about that if someone hadn't made a swipe at him to grab his suit jacket. He made sure to grab the hover pack before he joined his dad behind the stage.

He was followed by the noise outside as the crowd rioted.

* * *

"Why am I being questioned so much?! The experiment didn't even explode this time!" Spades argued with the local police, irritated beyond belief. Karkat could only wince as the man pointed at one of the officers. "Ask him! He saw the damn thing work!"

The halfa sighed, rubbing his hand over his face as the officers tried to calm the man down. He turned, refusing to make eye contact with any members of the crowd that were being taken in as he moved to his friends.

"That definitely didn't end like I thought it would." He watched as Sollux tried to fix the lens of his glasses and Aradia check the statistics on the phone he used to stream it with. "Anything happening online? I can't imagine it's any better than this."

"Some people thought it was fake at first, but since it was a livestream, they couldn't really say anything against that." Sollux finally fixed up his glasses, putting them on his face before the lens could fall out again. "Couldn't keep track of anything after people started rioting. Had to make sure my shit didn't get destroyed."

"A lot of mixed reactions on the aftermath, though." Aradia scrolled further into the comments, noting every single one, positive or negative. "A lot debates. That's pretty normal, but I've been finding a lot of copycat videos online too. This is going to blow up."

"Great." Karkat ran a hand through his hair. If the reaction inside the activity center was any indication, the internet's reaction to this would be an absolute shitshow. "I guess it's time to encrypt my social media again. I'd really like to not get hacked before all of this is over."

"I'll be right on it." Sollux leaned against a nearby pole, looking around at the crowd. "Turns out a bunch of people being proven wrong about their faith can be really fucking testy. You think you'll be visited by the pope?"

"If you do, ask him what the hell's going on in that church. Seriously." Aradia crossed her arms. She debated texting Damara about this, wondering how she'd react. "We should really tell Damara and Mituna to watch out. I have a feeling if they don't get contact with you, they'll try to reach us."

Sollux nodded, though his attention was caught by something else. "Does anybody know that girl coming towards us? She seems a little surprised."

Karkat turned to where his friend was looking, blinking as he recognized Feferi, who was walking towards them somewhat nervously.

"Peixes?" The halfa ignored the other two sent his way. He mentally prepared himself to get asked some pretty awkward questions now, as well as later. "Something wrong? Presentation didn't set you off too much, right?"

"No… ok, maybe the crowd kinda scared me there. I never thought I'd see people want to kill each other so much." Feferi rubbed at her arms, the sweater not hiding her from the chill. Her eyes went from one person to another. "Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering if Mr. Slick would take a message."

Aradia looked over to Spades, who had calmed down slightly when talking to the police. "He's still busy. We can leave a message. Karkat is his son."

"He's adopted, before you ask." Sollux waved off the look of surprise on the girl's face. "What do you need to say?"

"I was just wondering if he'd seen Eridan anywhere. Or his dad." Feferi looked at Karkat curiously. He squirmed, as if he were being put under a microscope. "I haven't seen either of them since the presentation and wanted to make sure they weren't doing anything."

"Don't you mean you want to know if they're safe?" Aradia raised an eyebrow at the wording. "They're probably fine if you're wondering. There was a lot of hair pulling and biting, but I didn't hear anything about anyone getting trampled."

"What she said. I'm pretty sure the guys okay. Hopefully, he knows how to fight through a crowd." He felt a little bad when her worried look only grew. "I'm sure they'll turn up. We just got to wait for a bit, let the police sort things out."

Feferi's eyes shifting everywhere signaled she didn't necessarily believe them. The caution was almost concerning considering how she moved from one foot to another.

Sollux noticed someone else walking to them. Figuring it would break the tension, he waved at her with a smile on his face. "Mrs. Jenkins, how's it going? Did you enjoy the show?"

The old, frail looking woman didn't verbally answer, walking up to the four with a stoic face. Before they could question what she wanted, she pulled out a bottle from her jacket pocket, opening it, and splashing Karkat with its contents.

Karkat could only stand there, eyes closed as the others just gaped. Mrs. Jenkins was promptly grabbed by policemen before she could do anything else. Spades could be heard yelling in the background, already demanding blood.

"…I'm going to guess that was a no." Sollux lowered his hand, putting his hand into it once it was low enough.

"Did she just douse you in holy water?" Aradia, scandalized, watched as Mrs. Jenkins was practically dragged away, mumbling something under her breath. "Jesus fucking Christ, she's praying. That bitch."

"I'm sorry to have seen that." Feferi looked like she wanted to fuss over Karkat, especially since he still didn't move from where he stood. "Are you okay? That wasn't really cool, or anything even remotely Christian-"

"It's fine." Karkat wiped off some of the water that still clung to his face. He mentally thanked whatever god existed that holy water wasn't a weakness for ghosts. "I had that happen once when I was thirteen after some woman thought I had the devil's eyes. This isn't much more fun now, but at least I have experience."

Feferi wasn't sold on that explanation, judging from the fact she glared at the woman as Spades himself was arguing with her. The group figured she was alright if only because she was angry on their behalf.

A puff of smoke escaping Karkat's lips broke that thought down before it could keep going forward.

Karkat mentally cursed, motioning for his friends to play along.

"Hey, Feferi." He jerked his thumb at the building casually, a little water flinging off his suit. "I'm going to go dry off and see if your friends there. Maybe he just went there to cool off after seeing all of that."

The girl in pink relaxed at that. "Thanks. I really hope he hasn't gotten into any trouble."

Karkat nodded, giving the other two a look to keep her busy while he was gone. He made a beeline to the place, throwing open the doors when he was sure no one was looking.

The center had been emptied of people already. He didn't see anything too obvious, remaining cautious as he made sure no step of his made a sound, the halfa knowing there wasn't any camera's in here. His hand went to the thermos, ready to pull it out at the slightest sound…

"I am the Box Ghost!"

Karkat would later consider it an overreaction, but the Box Ghost receiving a blast to the face seemed like a perfectly normal reaction at the time.

"Wha- oh for fucks sake!" Karkat pointed an accusing finger at the ghost, cursing under his breath. "Don't do that shit! Don't you have better things to do?"

"No!" The Box Ghost (the halfa should really figure out his real name) rubbed at his face, grumbling. "The Box Ghost has no care for your time constraints! I must release my cubed fury!"

"Release it somewhere else, I'm having a rough day." Karkat uncapped the thermos, turning it on before the ghost could move. "Come back when I'm in the mood not to hit something."

"Wait, no, I just got here!" The Box Ghost's pleading was ignored as the thermos brought him in, stopping whatever tirade he was about to start. Karkat grumbled, cursing his luck.

He debated getting out of here before someone saw before an ugly cough rattle through him. It rattled him enough to cause him to stumble, something catching in his throat. If _felt_ like his ghost sense was going off, but no smoke was coming out.

He quickly got up, eyes frantically through the room. His hand lit up with an ectoblast at the ready.

"Who's there?!" The coughing was dying down, but the smoke still wasn't coming out. "Show yourself and maybe I won't shoot!"

"Well, I can't say any of this was ideal. Really do wish the other one hadn't shown up."

Karkat cursed, looking upwards. Of course he should've looked there. The energy in his hands lit up more, if only to reassure him with his own power.

He could see two figures slithering up in the rafters, moving around slowly. They eventually moved out into the light, the larger one leading as the other trailed behind. Karkat wasn't sure how to describe them.

These two ghosts were a bit more aquatic in nature, looking a bit like lungfish in how they moved. Their hair looked like purple fins, slicked back slightly while still sticking up slightly, a light stripe in the smaller ones. Their hands ended in claws, eyes flowing purple, without pupils. Their teeth were looked thin and sharp. Like an angler fish.

What really caught his attention was the older one had two scars across the upper half of his face. Jagged, they looked like lightning bolts. They stood out the most among the rest of his features.

Karkat debated blasting one, but decided not to, lowering his hand. He didn't want to start a two on one fight.

"Who are you?" It was cautious. He was surprised that with his dad's rigorous testing for the presentation, he hadn't noticed anything on the radar. "If you're from the Ghost Zone, you might want to go home. A lot of people are freaked out right now and if someone sees you, another riot is going to start."

"Oh, we're perfectly aware what's going on. Kind of what drew us here, actually." The tall one's voice was… smooth wasn't the right word. It was a cousin of it, one that was somehow sneakier and less trustworthy. Oily. "I heard something was going to happen that would positively _rock_ the crowd, and I figured it would be interesting to watch."

"Well, you had your fun. At least, you better have." Karkat narrowed his eyes, the energy in his hands still not going out. "Not sure what else you want around here, but I think that might be enough entertainment for today."

"I disagree." The tall one got closer, inspecting Karkat's glowing hand. He backed off after the halfa raised it barely, taking a step back. "I've never seen another human do that. Or any of this for that matter. A thermos is certainly an interesting choice for capturing other ghosts."

Karkat tried not to growl, eyes switching back between the two to make sure he wasn't being surrounded. The tall one hadn't moved much more, while the smaller one just looked at him with a mix of suspicion and curiosity. It almost looked familiar.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, but I'm going to ask you to stop." His hands reached towards the thermos's cap carefully. "Seriously. There is a ghost hunter outside this building, and he'd be happy to have test subjects. I don't know about either of you, but I don't think you'd want to be on a dissection table."

The short one squirmed, eyes twitching at the doors before speaking up for the first time. "Father, can we please hurry this up? He's kinda got a point there."

Karkat almost uncapped the thermos right there, not expecting him to speak at all. The only reason he didn't was that he found the voice familiar. Hell he honestly kind of fucked up on the w's…

Hand finally lowering, the energy disappearing, Karkat took a long hard look at the smaller ghost.

"Ampora?" He questioned. He got a flinch from the ghost in response.

"Oh, you two have already met. That's good." The taller ghost straightened up, putting his hands behind his back. His smile was wide, disconcerting with the number of teeth in it. "I was hoping to move this along. Let me introduce myself."

A ring appeared around the ghost's waist, separating into two as they went across his body. The scaled body gave way to an expensive looking suit as the figures hand reached out towards Karkat.

"I am Oberon Ampora." The older man smiled; his teeth were still sharp in his human form. "And I believe we have much to discuss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to guess none of you say this coming? Good. That's how I like it.
> 
> I'll explain my reasoning for adding certain characters into where they are later, after this little arc is done. I think you'll understand why I've made these decisions and you'll enjoy them as time goes on.
> 
> For the unrelated note I mentioned in the above note, let me just say; I want your opinion on what kind of longfic you'd like for me to work on when this or the other fic I'm doing is finished. It won't be for a while, and I have an idea of doing a BNHA x Persona 5 crossover already planned out, but I also want your opinions on other stuff I could probably do. The ideas are on this post on my Tumblr, which I'll link below.
> 
> Link: https://the-helpless-lemon.tumblr.com/post/626575601015373824/possible-fics-for-the-future
> 
> Feel free to suggest in the reviews/comments below. Even submit your own if you'd like! I'd just like to hear your opinions.
> 
> Either way, I'll see you all next chapter!


	20. High School Grudges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As always, here's the next chapter. I think this will bring up a very interesting arc for the story, especially for those that love angst. I think we all now what this next chapter pertains to, especially to people who've watched the show.
> 
> If not, I hope this all comes as a good surprise.
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy!

He wasn't sure what to do here. Karkat was at a genuine loss, and he didn't like it.

It was different. He expected some shit to happen today, but not this. Going from one freak of nature to possibly three (depending on what exactly these two are) was a hell of a rollercoaster. He should probably try and make a good first impression. Quick, Vantas, say something clever!

"What the fuck?"

God dammit, present Vantas. Why must you be so eloquent?

"I should've figured that'd be your reaction." Despite his response, Oberon didn't seem offended by the vulgar statement. Then again, he probably wasn't expecting to see Karkat either, so it was fair. "Should've went with something gentler."

"Not like it would've helped out much, dad." Eridan hung back, watching the other boy intently. He was still surprised too, apparently. He was keeping his distance, as if Karkat was liable to shoot him with an ecto-blast. "Sums it up pretty well."

Oberon raised his hand again, causing Karkat to take a step back. It was involuntary, though it stopped further movement.

"What are you two?" Karkat's hand lit up with energy again. He didn't realize he stopped. "If you're ghosts wearing artifacts, speak up. I've had to deal with two of those already, so I'm really short on patience when it comes to that."

"If you'd let us explain first, this'll be over much faster." Eridan looked nervously at the hand, raising his hands defensively. "It's a long story, but-"

"Keep it simple." Karkat really didn't want to be rude about this, but surprises had been unpleasant lately. He couldn't afford anymore of them.

"I'm a half ghost." Oberon pointed at himself, being as blunt as possible. It was almost appreciated. "Eridan, my son, is a quarter ghost. He was created naturally while I wasn't. There's more, but I don't think it'd be wise to explain here."

Karkat felt the urge to argue before he heard something outside. Another argument, judging from the raised voices.

There were too many people here. They needed a better place to talk.

"My dad's outside. If you pretend to be an investor, he'll take you to the lab." The energy in Karkat's hand fizzled out. "Not sure how receptive he'll be, though. Things have been stressful today."

"Spades if your father?" Oberon looked surprised at first, but it was quickly replaced by… understanding? "Hm. Figures he's connected to this. We'll meet you outside."

Oberon was quick to turn and head towards the door. His posture remained confident and poised the entire time.

Karkat gave Eridan a glance, raising an eyebrow. The boy with the scarf shrugged, as if embarrassed. The boy clapped a hand onto his shoulder, most likely to try and act comforting. The reassurance died after feeling his soaked coat.

"Why is your jacket wet?" Karkat almost laughed at the disturbed look on the boy's face.

"It's holy water. Watch out for old ladies, they're apparently packing tonight." Karkat phased the water off of him as soon as he said this.

It was enough for Eridan to accept as he quickly joined his father, if at a slightly quicker pace. Karkat watched him go, carefully.

Karkat didn't realize until he was out of sight that his heart had been racing a mile a minute since the two had transformed.

* * *

It took him under a minute to get himself under control. He didn't know what he was feeling, but he was certainly trying to suppress hope for now. It was only cautious optimism for now, nothing more.

When Karkat walked out to see his dad, he wasn't surprised to see Oberon and Eridan talking to him. He _was_ surprised to see a woman talking with the both of them too. He would've assumed it was Oberon's wife or something until he got a good look at her.

It was Feferi's mom. He was pretty damn sure of that since the woman practically looked like an older clone of her, with the same skin color and generally most of the same features. She looked a good deal more intimidating, though, just from her sheer height. The amount of gold jewelry would've been tacky, but she somehow pulled it off.

Spades certainly seemed put off by the two. Not afraid or angry, but certainly awkward. It wasn't a familiar sight if he was honest.

"Good to see you too, Oberon." Spades seemingly searched the mans face as they shook hands, as if he expected something. As for what, he didn't know. "Honestly didn't expect to see you here. Either of you."

"What, a few old friends can't meet up? Besides, I heard you organized it, so I figured it would be interesting." Oberon smiled charmingly. Spades didn't look convinced and (possibly) Peixes didn't seem to be going along with it. "I was in the area, so…"

"You practically begged for us to come here, remember?" Mrs. Peixes interrupted, waving off the excuse like it offended. She gave Spades the side eye. "Though he is right. Figured this would interesting. Though I was expecting an explosion."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Condy." Spades ignored the glare sent his way, adjusting his hat carefully. His eyes landed on Karkat, causing him to raise his hands. "Hey, kid. You get that holy water off of ya?"

"Yeah. Remind me never to go to church ever again. If they're teaching people to throw holy water on people that throw off their beliefs, then I don't wanna go." Karkat adjusted his suit jacket, stopping for a second before continuing. "Then again, I don't go to church anyway."

"You have a son?" 'Condy' apparently had no filter, considering how she questioned that immediately. She looked at both of them closely, clearly skeptical. "I didn't even hear about you getting married."

"Mom!" Feferi apparently chose this time to finally confirm his theory. She apparently overheard the question and figured it was as rude as it sounded. "You can't just ask people that! That's rude."

"To be fair, I'm adopted." Karkat really didn't want to focus on this, so he figured he'd cover for her mom for now. Even if 'Condy' didn't seem to care. "Did you clear everything with the police yet, dad? I'd rather not be here for another riot."

"Yeah, yeah. It doesn't look like anyone else is going nuts on us right now." Spades was still disheartened by the reaction. He figured there'd be a lot more praise than this. He turned towards the other two adults. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm planning on heading home. Maybe you want to see the finished portal?"

"I'd personally love to see it. We did work on the proto-portal back in high school, so I'd love to see the finished product." Despite Oberon's sounding pleasant about it, Spades flinched at the word 'proto-portal.' "Eridan, do you want to check it out?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Eridan didn't seem to like being put on the spot but rolled with it as his father's expectant face turned to him. His eyes went briefly towards Karkat, though quickly went away. "Sounds cool."

Feferi and her mom agreed to do so as well, both of them seemingly excited by the possibility. Though Feferi did give a weird look towards her friend at the reaction.

Karkat had the urge to say he was tired all of a sudden just so he wouldn't have to deal with guests of any kind. If it wasn't for the burning questions he had, he most likely would've gone for that.

He was going to talk with the others tonight about this as soon as it was over, though. Maybe they'd have something if only some of his questions were answered.

* * *

During the drive there, he'd learned that Aradia and Sollux were taken back home by their parents. He figured that'd happen, though he honestly hoped that at least one of them would come.

He did keep his eye on the Ampora's as discreetly as he could, along with the Peixes. Something told him that the latter knew anything about the former, but Feferi is friends with Eridan. They probably knew _something_ was going on with the Ampora's, just not what.

"Surprisingly normal place." Mrs. Peixes, who's real name was apparently Crocker (of all things), remarked. "I almost thought you'd attach some kind of psy-ops thing on your house by now. You always talked about that shit."

"Oh, I tried, but the local government wouldn't let me. Goddamn associations around here a nightmare to deal with." Spades looked over the house quickly before sighing in relief. "Thank god, I thought some idiots would try to vandalize the place while we were gone."

"Give it time, the nights still young." Karkat really wondered how the rest of the town was taking this. If people nearly rioted at the showing tonight, he had a feeling thing would go nuts by morning. "At least no one can say you're wrong anymore."

"Damn straight!" That got the wind back in Spades sails. He started moving towards the house proudly. "I don't know if I have any alcohol that ain't cheap, but some of us can have some drinks to celebrate! Even the kids too!"

"That sounds like a nice way to end today." Agreeable as always, Oberon followed behind, a hand on Eridan's back. "I'm certainly not driving later."

"I'll probably have a bottle of wine after this." Crocker didn't even remotely sound like she was kidding. Which to be fair, was a normal reaction to having the afterlife proven during a high school reunion. "I think I'll pass until then."

"Looks like the maids will be busy later." Feferi chuckled, falling into step with Karkat. She gave him a side glance for a second, as if to measure him up. "So, how are you dealing with all of this? The ghost stuff, I mean."

"I'm sorry?" Karkat raised an eyebrow, not sure how to interpret the question. He almost had a heart attack too, thinking she was talking about the halfa stuff.

"Your dad discovered an afterlife existed, or some alternate dimension close to it. I don't really know how to feel being an outsider, so I'm wondering about you." Feferi scrutinized him even further. "You knew before anyone too. That was probably pretty thrilling."

Karkat was glad that was it, relaxing at the genuine question. Remaining quiet for a few seconds, he eventually shrugged. "Hard to say. He got the portal working about a month ago, so I guess I've had time to digest it."

"Oh come on, that's a cop out and you know it." Feferi nudged her shoulder against his in a friendly manner. It almost threw him for a loop how casual she was being. "Everyone's been wondering where they go when they die for years and you had that proof in your basement. That's got to be an ego boost."

"I'm not saying it isn't." Karkat's feelings of pride did surge at that. If it hadn't been for the ghost crap, he would've probably been dying to tell someone. "It's just a lot to think about. Having a portal to the afterlife in your basement raises a lot of questions. I think I'm still in denial sometimes."

"Oh, same. I don't I've fully registered it either, honestly." Feferi's smile turned shaky. She tugged at the sleeve of her sweater, looking at the house as they made it to the front door.

Karkat didn't want to say it, but he could tell. Despite the positive attitude, he could see the questions piling up, causing her to stumble. Even if they were almost adults, this was absolutely nerve wracking. Barely ready for the rest of their lives, they knew one place they could end up if they died.

Hell of a thing, knowing where you were could go. Somehow just as bad as not knowing at all.

Maybe he could make this easier.

"I'm proud of my dad." At the questioning look she gave him, Karkat shrugged. "I don't know how to feel about the afterlife being real. Honestly, I really hate the portal sometimes. But I am proud that he was finally able to get it to work and prove he wasn't just a nutjob."

They'd made it to the entrance of the lab when he finished talking, stopping there. He attempted to smile comfortingly; the action was unfamiliar on his face. "Just take it in stride. At least we got a scientist figuring things out."

Feferi let out a sigh at that. It wasn't a complete relief to her, but she was placated for now. Before they could talk further, he opened up the lab, heading inside. The cool metal greeted them, as well as Spades voice as he talked to the other guests downstairs.

"…and not mention how hard it was to get all this ectoplasm in the first place. Rare as all hell, and I had to get through so much red tape so the government can let me test on it." The scientist had been messing with the controls of the portals as he talked. The guests were either politely listening or tuning him out completely. "At least permits were easy enough. Turns out nobody cares about what you do in your basement as long as it ain't murder."

"As interesting as that is," Oberon decided to interrupt, much to the relief of everyone else. "Can we see the portal now? If it's ready to be opened, that is."

"It's always ready. Just needed to make sure it was all up to snuff." Spades stepped back from the computers before nodding in agreement. Moving towards the switch, he bowed dramatically with an overconfident smirk. "Now, without further ado…"

Spades opened up the portal before anyone could respond. Karkat did have to admit the original portal was much more impressive than the portable one. It gave off the feeling that it was much deeper than it should've been, especially to anyone that looked at it closely enough. The lab sure as hell gave it a bit more ambience, the metal walls reflecting the green light.

Taking a quick look at the others in attendance, he figured that feeling was mutual. The others seemed awed by the portal itself, with even Crocker being silenced by the opening. It was a different feeling in its entirety, putting everyone down from their previously excited moods.

Oberon took a step back, as if the weight pushed down on him. Karkat wasn't even sure if it was an act or not since he looked so convincing.

"I-I," He gulped before continuing. "I think I'll need a drink. Maybe several. If you don't mind, Spades, can I just…"

"Hang out upstairs. I can get being moved by it." Spades sounded a bit smug at that, waving him off goodheartedly. He looked at Karkat briefly. "Kid, you mind helping him up to the kitchen? You know where the wine is."

Karkat wordlessly nodded, moving behind Oberon as he started to head upstairs. The man didn't seem as shocked as he was pretending to be, but he had a feeling it wasn't completely an act. Spades started to lecture everyone about the process of actually making the portal and what he'd discovered so far when they went upstairs.

It didn't take long for them to make it to the kitchen. It certainly took less time for Karkat to open the wine cabinet, grabbing the stuff Spades had been saving for tonight easily. Oberon remained patient as the teen grabbed a glass and poured.

"Talk." Karkat didn't mean for it to come out so harshly, but he was starting to get impatient. The silence grated on him and he wanted some answers now. "You said you were a half-ghost created artificially and Eridan's a natural born quarter-ghost. Mind telling me what that means?"

"I would've though it was obvious, but I suppose you're talking about the 'how.' That's an admittedly difficult thing to talk about." Oberon took an experimental sip of the wine. He didn't cringe, but judging from his suit alone, Karkat figured that he's had better. "Then again, I suppose whatever happened to you wasn't exactly a happy story either."

Karkat didn't say anything. He poured himself a glass instead, even if he didn't like the taste.

"…I guess I should go first." Oberon took another sip, longer this time, before putting down the glass. He looked forlornly at it, as if wishing to have some more. "I'm going to take a guess and know that your father didn't always get it right with his experiments?"

"We've had enough noise complaints to prove it." Karkat chuckled ruefully. He remembered how some of the houses next to them hadn't had people stay there for longer than six months. "Dad isn't exactly the easiest neighbor to live next to."

"I can imagine. He wasn't exactly an easy lab partner to have either, quite honestly." Oberon swirled the wine in the glass. "Had to work with him on a lot of projects. It was a very interesting experience."

"…Was it one of dad's experiments that got you?" The line of inquiry was obviously expected, Oberon not even flinching at that. "Seems like this is where this story is going. Pretty obvious in retrospect."

"…You're not wrong." The mood noticeably dipped at that. Oberon didn't look angry, but an unreadable expression did run across his face within moments. Whatever it was, it was laced with bitterness. "It was for a pretty stupid reason too. We were doing a project for the science fair coming up and we wanted to win _so_ badly."

"Dad probably wanted to prove he wasn't crazy back then." Karkat hummed. He never did look for his dad's high school photo's. He probably should. He always figured that he looked pretty much the same, just with less wrinkles and less gray hairs.

"Took him twenty or so years, but he did it. I personally wanted to win it to impress some girls." The man chuckled at the admission. He didn't sound proud of it. "It was pretty pathetic. I only decided to go with his idea on a portal because he found some ectoplasm somehow…"

* * *

"Are you sure that isn't radioactive?"

Oberon adjusted his glasses, doing his best to stay away from the jar of goop Spades had in his hand. He had no idea where he got that thing, but he didn't really want to know.

"It doesn't matter how I found it, I just did!" Spades working eye looked almost frantic as he excitedly handled. He'd honestly hadn't seen him that happy before, which was equal parts weird and upsetting. "This is perfect for the project! We just need to adjust a few things, but this is a real stroke of luck."

"I still can't believe you're going with the ghost stuff." Crocker hung around in the corner, reading a book on marine biology. She didn't even look up from the book while she heard the two bicker. "I did my project with _real_ science. Y'know, the stuff that'll actually get me an A?"

"Shut it Condy, no one asked you." Spades put the ectoplasm down, giving a glare towards the girl. "At least our project's going to change things. We'll blow everyone away at the science fair."

"Hopefully not literally." Oberon quickly added, still watching the possibly radioactive gunk _move_ in the jar. "I really hope not literally."

"Just sayin'. Could've gone with something much simpler and get an A." Crocker rolled her eyes at the boys' antics, closing the book. "I did mine on how certain fish can't have the same diets involving fish food. The teachers will eat that shit up."

"We're not here for A's, Condy. We're here for Science!" The other two could hear the capitalized 'science.' It was loud, just like him. "Let's get this show on the road, anyway. I don't know the half life for ectoplasm and I'd rather use when it's fresh."

Spades grabbed the cart carrying the proto-portal, messing around with the wires. The two had been working on it for days now and had made plenty of headway on it, especially in a short amount of time. Certainly impressive for two high schoolers.

"That's if this thing will actually work. I mean, how do we even test it?" Oberon sighed, grabbing some cables. He cautiously hooked them to the tiny portal, making sure to stay out of Slick's way. "How do you even use ectoplasm as fuel? If that's all we need, then can't we use regular electricity?"

"It's more of an igniting agent." Spades made some last-minute adjustments, closing a panel before moving onto other parts. "We need some of what the ghost's dimension is actually made of to cause a chemical reaction that opens a portal. If we get it right, we can catch a glimpse inside."

"Ghosts dimensions. I really don't think anyone's going to buy that." Crocker took a sip of her soda, cringing. "Dammit, it went flat. I'm going to get another."

"Maybe I could…" Oberon wasn't able to finish before she got up and went through the door. "Damn, she's already gone."

"Take a hint, dude. I'm not the best guy when it comes to this shit, but even I know when someone ain't interested." Spades shrugged at the angry look the other boy gave him. "I'm just saying. It's not too late to start trying to date someone else."

"Easy for you- no wait." Oberon sarcastically stated before having to dodge a screw sent his way. "Okay, that was a little below the belt. But I do think I have a shot here. Besides, all we have to do is get this to work, right?"

"That's the plan!" Spades stepped back from the proto-portal, giving it a once over before nodding in satisfaction. "I think it's worth a quick test. Maybe we should wait to show Condy so we aren't the only ones to see it."

"I think there's some film stuff in the closet. Might be a good idea to get it on video." Oberon highly doubted this would work, but he figured things should be documented properly. If it did, this would certainly be a resume booster.

Spades actually decided to listen to him for once, putting the ectoplasm into a beaker connected to the portal and connecting them both to a battery. He headed to the closet soon after, rummaging through there.

Oberon took this chance to take a look through of the portal himself. He put his head close to it, looking through the ring. He didn't notice his hands press against a button.

Though his doubts remained present, he couldn't help but admire it. It would certainly make an interesting set piece if they decided to scrap this and use it for the film club. They were planning a science fiction project and maybe this would earn them a few good graces from them…

"Hey, Obi," Spades had come out carrying some of the film equipment, plopping it near the battery. "Which one of these should we use?"

Slick hadn't noticed it at the time, but Condy had left her soda on the same table. The rumble caused it to spill over, dripping flat soda onto the battery in a big splash that drenched it completely.

Oberon didn't even have the time to answer, the whirl of the portal starting up interrupting him. Jerking his head towards it, he was almost mesmerized by the glow as the portal turned, sparks getting out of control _until it-_

Oberon wouldn't remember anything after that except pain.

* * *

"I apparently laid down on the floor screaming the entire time. Your father tried to help while Crocker called the ambulance." The wine glass had been emptied by this point, Oberon finishing off the story along with it. "Didn't get to finish high school. The ectoplasm dug deep into me and poisoned me for a time, leaving me in the hospital for years."

Karkat hadn't finished his wine. He just stared into the liquid as he listened.

"Things did get back on track, though my new 'abilities' did throw a wrench into things. I've learned how to control them over twenty years." Oberon shrugged, misery ebbing away bit by bit. "Made plenty of money, got married, and had two kids. Both of them with ghost powers that were hard to explain, but easy to teach them soon enough."

Oberon paused, realizing something. "But I think I've said enough. I haven't heard your side of the story yet."

Karkat didn't flinch. He figured it was his time to share. He'd done enough listening, anyway. Taking a big gulp of wine in a way that certainly wasn't refined, he spoke. His voice was harsh.

"Not that different." The teen shrugged at the other halfa, smile a little bitter. This had happened _twice,_ and his father was none the wiser. "Dad was finishing up the portal a month ago and it wasn't working. I tried to give it some adjustments when the thing turned on with me inside. Not sure why I survived, or I didn't end up like… well, you."

It felt weird to finally tell someone outside of it, that hadn't seen it firsthand. But, it actually felt nice too. Someone could actually understand it. He wasn't alone in all of this.

"A month…" Oberon digested that bit of information quietly, as if thinking about it. "I wouldn't have thought that. You picked up ectoblasts quite quickly, considering the context."

"Kinda had to learn quick." Karkat snorted. The alcohol entered his system at this point, giving him a slight buzz. "Ghosts have been appearing everywhere. Some are easy to talk too, but others don't really go down without a fight."

"Okay, that's less than ideal. Trading poor health for enemies isn't exactly an ideal tradeoff." Oberon looked actually concerned too, as an adult should. "I guess this is the perfect segue then."

"For what?" The halfa teen swirled the last of his wine carefully. Maybe it was the wine in his system messing with him, but he almost felt giddy. Could be everything else too.

"Considering you've only been, well, yourself for about a month, I think it would be a good idea for me to help you out." Oberon smiled a bit as Karkat perked up. "I can't really leave anyone like me out to dry, especially with so many ghosts attacking."

"Are you asking me if I want training?" Holy shit, this was actually happening. Karkat was hoping to ask, but he wasn't sure how to bring it up himself. He wouldn't have to be so confused anymore about any of this ghost's stuff.

"Exactly." Oberon extended a hand to the boy, smiling widely. Despite the creepy view of his thin teeth, it actually felt inviting. "What do you say? I feel like we can learn quite a bit from each other."

Karkat didn't want to act too excited for this. The alcohol and the actual hope for the first time in a month caused that to fail, since he almost started vibrating in his seat. If he took this, not only could he protect the town better, maybe he could use this to convince his dad ghosts aren't evil.

And then an explosion and some yelling from the basement ruined the moment.

A loud bang emanated from the lab, causing the two to jump up at the sound. Karkat had already dove towards the stairs, running down them before Oberon could blink. The man did eventually catch up as they made it to the bottom. At the bottom, having slipped through the portal was…

"Skulker?" Karkat whispered. The robot ghosts was avoiding shot after shot as Spades fired at him. The others had moved towards the other side of the lab, inching towards the stairs as they watched the fight carefully.

"A robot?" Oberon certainly sounded perplexed, watching the scene with a raised eyebrow. "Can't say I've seen that before."

"He's one of the ghosts that attacked me before. I haven't heard from him in weeks though. Why is he here now?" Karkat looked around, trying to find a weapon. There was no way in hell he'd be able to transform without people noticing, but he couldn't let his dad fight a walking armory alone.

He spotted a knife and an ecto-gun on a table. Grabbing it, he nudged Oberon in the side.

"I'm going to go invisible. If you distract everyone long enough, I can sneak up on him and maybe surprise him." It looked like Skulker's suit was still damaged from their last fight, so maybe cutting him down would be easier.

"Make it quick." Oberon moved forward, obscuring Karkat from view of the others. The teen turned invisible before the man could change his mind.

Karkat made sure to float slightly to avoid making noise, thanking the fact his dad was keeping Skulker on his toes long enough for him to not notice him. He got behind the robot quickly enough, briefly making his hand visible again to signal the attack.

"Hey, tin man!" Oberon shouted. It caught everyone's attention, including Spades, who had stopped his assault long enough to see. "It's kind of rude to intrude on a friendly meet-up, you know. Nobody likes a gate crasher."

Skulker tensed long enough for his weapons to power down. Before he could do anything else, Karkat turned visible, swinging the knife downward onto one of his arms. A clean cut broke it, having it clatter onto the floor.

Swinging around to fire at the new attacker, a few blasts from Karkat's ecto-gun stunned him. Another swing of the knife cut off the other arm, joining the first on the floor with a loud clang.

Karkat smirked as Skulker's eyes widened in recognition, switching to rage. It was satisfying to watch that face get blasted by Spades, causing him to fly back into the portal.

Spades jumped towards a switch, closing the portal before anything else could fly out haphazardly. He swung around to the guests hands flying everywhere. "Sorry about that everyone! Tours over! I need to clean this place out and check for any ecto-contamination."

The man hurriedly moved everyone out of the lab, giving apologies and reassuring them it would never happen again. Nobody was able to reply as they were still shell shocked by the event, causing them to ask few questions.

Karkat was able to get a quick wave goodbye from Feferi as she went, Eridan waving too as he stuck by her. He actually waved back, adrenaline leaving him, as well as the buzz from earlier.

"Well, that was certainly a mood killer." Oberon strolled up beside him, huffing irritably. He did look perturbed by the fight, especially since it got in the way of the moment. "It does seem to me you have the fighting part down, but that was certainly a shock."

"Not the worst things Skulker's ever done. Trust me." Karkat realized he was still holding the knife and gun, putting it away in his pocket. He nervously shifted where he stood, trying to stay cool. "The training thing still on the table? I wouldn't mind talking about it."

Oberon did smile at that. He pulled out a card from his pocket, handing it off to the halfa teen. "We'll have to talk about it later. For now, I've got make sure Eridan's okay."

With that, the man hurried off before Karkat could ask anymore questions. The teen looked over the neat little card in his hand with the raised lettering, holding it carefully. He stashed it in his pocket for safekeeping before he could forget.

He shuffled back into the house, moving towards the basement lab. His dad was mumbling and cursing as he cleaned up the mess, gathering samples all the while.

"The first goddamn ghost I find, and it's fucking hostile. And it happens while I'm showing off to people, because that's always been my luck." The curses switched to some note of amazement and excitement too. "And I've got _samples._ Ghosts have technology and can make metal _suits?!_ How can I make something like that? Is it hard? Do I need more to figure it out?"

"Dad, you're getting mood swings." Karkat joked. This got Spades attention, stopping his mumbling. "I know geniuses are supposed to be mad, but I think you should wait on that until you get some interviews."

"Well, if it isn't the ghost hunter himself!" Spades ran over to his son, grabbing him into a hug. Holding him still to look at him with pride, he grinned. "You actually helped take down that spook! I didn't even teach you some of those moves."

"Hey, maybe it comes naturally." Karkat shrugged, laughing slightly. He felt like he was on top of the world right now. "Looks like things are going pretty well. Well, ghost attack aside."

"Yeah, I think I'm going to make some safety protocols for the portal after this. Can't have that happening twice." Spades didn't have time to realize the irony in that statement when a buzzing caught his attention. He stepped back, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "Huh, government contacts are calling me. Guess they say the presentation tonight. I'll have to take this."

As he walked away, heading upstairs, he left saying one final thing. "Our worlds changing, kid! Things are only going to look up from here!"

Karkat laughed at that, mentally agreeing with him. He strolled to his usual spot in the lab, still chuckling to himself as her sat down in his chair and leaned back.

Maybe his dad was right. Not only did he get to prove everyone wrong, Karkat may have made an ally with someone exactly like him. Someone that actually knew what he was going through, could actually teach him more about his powers. It was almost-

A buzz of static cause this train of thought to stop, bursting through the comfortable silence. Karkat flinched, immediately looking for it among the rubble within the lab.

He looked over to see one of Skulker's arms lighting up softly in the dark lab, having been turned on. He could hear some radio chatter, two voices talking to each other softly, as if they didn't want to be heard.

The halfa kept his eyes on the thing for several seconds before cautiously getting up. Moving towards it and grabbing it, he put his ear up to it, unsure of what he was hearing.

"_I didn't think anyone would actually be on the other side of the portal. Who would be holding a tour there? Seriously!"_

Skulker's voice wasn't surprising, but the pleading in his voice did. Whoever he was talking to, he definitely seemed to fear him. It was a disturbing change to his usual bravado.

"_Considering you interrupted a very important meeting, I would say so. Though you did give me an opportunity to establish some trust. Consider me conflicted on what to do with you."_

Karkat stopped. The static may have made the voices hard to hear, but he recognized it. He really didn't want to, especially with how tonight had been going.

"_Sir, I figured I'd make one last ditch effort to find him. I didn't know you already did."_ Skulker was begging at this point. _"I understand if you're angry with me, but I had no idea. I was simply doing my job as best I could."_

The other voice remained silent for a few, tense moments. Karkat sincerely hoped that he didn't say anything, that way he could deny who the other speaker was. Unfortunately, he did.

"_I'll excuse this since you actually made me look even better in front of them."_ Oberon's voice was cold and calculating. Much different to how he was earlier. _"If you do something like this again, I will find a way to make it a __**permanent**__ lesson."_

"_Understood."_

The voices went dead after that, leaving Karkat alone with his thoughts. The labs temperature felt like it had dropped again, making him feel cold. He held on to the arm the entire time, daring it to speak up again so maybe this could be disproven as a practical joke.

It didn't. Karkat still laughed though.

Of course it wasn't as good as it seemed. Things never were.

…He had to tell his friends about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really have a tendency to dash Karkat's hopes, don't I? Well, it keeps things interesting at the very least. I hope you like the new characters, because they're going to be very important as time goes on.
> 
> Also, to help solidify that, we've got more playlists!
> 
> Oberon: playlist/4HDFo5j1FcPYlK25OtqIpE
> 
> Feferi: playlist/1fXkfY5pIZLSrgSWNitAiK
> 
> Eridan: playlist/2VZ6ilqB2YV8My0PffWOdI
> 
> I hope you like them. Had them prepared in advance.
> 
> Feel free to review and I hope to see you all next chapter!


	21. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry if this chapter came out a little later than usual. I know it's not that late, but still. I've just had a lot of little things going on this week that required my attention, a lot of them still up in the air right now. Just stuff related to jobs, writing my second book, and just generally finishing up a class. Plus, this chapter was a little harder to write.
> 
> I don't really know why it was so hard to write, but I think I'm facing a block right now. Hopefully forcing myself to write more will stop it, but I think it's okay.
> 
> I do have something to announce at the end notes, though, so feel free to read until the end there.
> 
> I'll see you all the end of the chapter!

"Please tell me you aren't serious." Sollux looked over the sound files Karkat had collected off of Skulker's arm. He sighed loudly, handing his friends phone back to him. "For fucks sake, you're serious. I can't believe this shit."

"A one in a million chance to meet someone else with ghost powers, and he may have staged an attack on our school." Aradia's thousand-yard stare into the distance was one for the history books, especially since it crossed into becoming a death glare. "I'm starting to truly think you're cursed, Karkat. I really am."

"Join the fucking club. I still can't believe this either, and I practically stayed up all night listening to those." Karkat had done that after taking the arm and hiding it somewhere from his dad. He'd made sure to go over most of them to double check if it was some kind of misunderstanding. "And I'm pretty sure he's expecting me to call him up soon. Which would be fine if he wasn't a goddamn supervillain."

"Look, maybe this isn't that bad." Sollux received some weird looks for that, which he waved off. "Shut up, I can try and be positive too. Maybe he didn't mean for Skulker to nearly burn down the school. Maybe he just wanted him to back off and test your skills?"

"That doesn't negate the fact he started a forest fire, Captor." Karkat huffed. He almost wanted a ghost to show up just to let off some steam, which probably wasn't a healthy thought to have. "Which reminds me, make sure to look up anything involved with the name Ampora. If he's willing to commit _arson,_ then he's probably doing some shady shit financial wise."

"Any idea what you're going to do then? About the training, I mean." Aradia fumbled with the straps of her backpack, a worried look crossing her face. "As much as I don't like that you'd be alone with him, it'd be suspicious if you didn't do anything about it. Especially after last night."

"I'm think I'll just have to play along for now. I guess as long as he actually teaches me some shit, I should take what I can get." It didn't sit well with him either, but the halfa figured as long as he didn't make him do anything shady, he'd be fine. "Maybe I can make sure Oberon isn't doing anything _worse._ Not to mention keep an eye on Eridan, see if he's shady too."

"Maybe you should call up Terezi and Nepeta too, while you're at it. If he does have contacts in the Ghost Zone, that means he's probably known there too." Aradia figured the logic was pretty much sound. Karkat couldn't really argue with it. "Give them some warning, though. Just in case."

"TZ's right, we really do need to stop calling her when a crisis is going on." Sollux pulled out his phone, already beginning his research. "Aradia, you mind looking up some stuff on Peixes? I'll do the heavy stuff for them later."

Aradia grunted in the affirmative while Karkat brought up Ghostian on his phone. He sent out a probing message, which got a quick response.

CG: RISE AND SHINE! THIS AIN'T A SOCIAL CALL EITHER.

AC: :33 hi karkitty! what's up?

GC: WH4T'D YOU TH1S T1M3, K4RKL3S?

Karkat sighed. This was going to be a long one.

CG: YOU WANT THE GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS FIRST?

AC: :33 ...good news?

GC: OH, TH1S 1SN'T 4 GOOD ST4RT.

CG: THE PRESENTATION WENT OFF OKAY. SOME SLIGHT DISRUPTION AT FIRST, BUT YOU KNOW HOW IT IS.

AC: :33 not really, but okay!

GC: 4ND TH3 B4D N3WS?

CG: I KNOW WHO HIRED SKULKER TO FIRE AT YOU WHILE YOU WERE WEARING YOUR NECKLACE.

GC: HOW 1S TH4T B4D N3WS?

CG: HE'S A HALFA AND HE KNOWS WHO I AM.

There was a nearly a minute of radio silence from the other two, which was to be expected. He gave them enough time to respond with their hopefully helpful responses.

AC: :33 jesus furreaking christ.

He wasn't sure what he expected.

AC: :33 are you cursed, karkitty? or is this normal fur halfa's?

CG: ARADIA ALREADY BEAT YOU TO THE PUNCH ON THAT JOKE, NEPETA.

Terezi's response was characteristically more curt and confused.

GC: 3XPL41N.

GC: NOW.

CG: TURNS OUT MY DAD HAS A HISTORY WHEN IT COMES TO TURNING PEOPLE INTO PART GHOSTS.

GC: TH4T ONLY R41S3S FURTH3R QU3ST1ONS.

AC: :33 and he's working with skulker? what's that about?

CG: I'LL SEND THE SOUNDBITES THROUGH THE PHONE. RIGHT NOW, WE'RE NOT DOING ANY FIGHTING, BUT I DO WANT SOME BACKGROUND CHECKS.

CG: I'D EXPLAIN MORE, BUT I'M HEADING TO SCHOOL.

GC: F1N3, BUT WH3N YOU G3T 4 FR33 P3R1OD, YOU'R3 3XPL41N1NG 3V3RYTH1NG.

AC: :33 what does he look like? maybe we've s33n him somewhere befure.

Karkat typed out a quick description of Oberon's ghost form, adding Eridan's too. He figured if the other halfa was working with Skulker, he might be working with other people too. He kinda hoped this was a one-time thing and maybe he could reason with him, but a part of him started to doubt it.

The creeping of the bus on the horizon caused him to curse. Looks like he'd have to cut this conversation short.

CG: BUS IS COMING. I'LL TALK TO YOU LATER.

AC: :33 stay safe!

GC: H3 B3TT3R.

Karkat put the phone in his pocket before the bus stopped, taking a deep breath. Despite the Oberon situation, he hadn't forgotten the possible landmine that school would be due to dad's demonstration. Plenty of the townspeople were there and they had livestreamed it.

He regretted asking Sollux to do that. Why the fuck did he ask him to do that again?

…Oh, right, he was being petty. God damn it, past Karkat, why did you have to do that?

Karkat figured he should head on aboard first, get the weird shit out of the way. His first few steps into the bus sounded louder than they usually did, but that was probably just nerves.

And everyone was staring at him. Great. Just act normal, Karkat. You practically died and came back to life without people noticing, so doing this should be a cakewalk. Which was honestly sad now that he thought about it.

He actually got to the usual seat with his friends with no incidents whatsoever, but it didn't feel like a success. Some people were either still staring or trying to avoid looking in his direction. The latter, he realized, were made up of those ultra-Christian kids that usually did their own thing. Karkat figured that was better than getting soaked in holy water, he supposed.

"So, I'd say this has been a success." Aradia joked when they sat down. The spell was broken by then, the other kids tentatively speaking to each other about other topics. Glances were still thrown their way. "Now we just have to get through six hours of this before we can leave school."

"We should've ditched." Sollux provided helpfully. He still hadn't looked up from his phone since they got in here. It was most likely to defend himself from everyone looking at him. "You're dad's all over the news, dude."

"I know." Karkat slumped against the back of his seat, closing his eyes so he could get some sleep. "I know."

Today was going to suck.

* * *

The good news was that the presentation hadn't dominated the conversation entirely throughout the day like he thought it would. Though, debatably, it was sometimes worse than that.

Karkat's history teacher had been distracted all morning, talking about all sorts of historical figures and things that weren't really related to the curriculum. The science teacher had looked ready to cry every five minutes, muttering about physics being broken now. The math teacher didn't even show up, the substitute doing their best to cope with the little material they'd been given.

The only class that was mostly normal was Mr. Lancer's. He actually told anyone that if they wanted to talk about the 'situation' in class, they'd have time to do so. When no one did, he simply moved on and did things like no one had their perception warped about life and death.

Karkat always liked Mr. Lancer, even if he was kind of an old grump. Today certainly helped boost that opinion.

That was only the teacher's reactions, though. The students were a lot more varied.

It was a split between avoiding him twice as hard as they did before and trying to schmooze him up, with the latter being equally terrible. Avoiding him felt like a slap to the face at first, but he never really talked to any of those guys anyway. Plus, they were part of the crowd whose parents were those strict traditionalists that had protested against any event that was deemed 'non-Christian.'

It was the people trying to be nice to him now that irked him.

Some people apparently smelled the fame coming on and tried talking to him like he was an old friend, something that really pissed him off. He did try to be polite, coming up with excuses, but it took him so much effort not to go intangible and leave the school. He hoped they got the message at some point.

It honestly took until lunch for him to finally get a break from it. He mentally thanked the fact free period was coming up after it too, meaning he could just hide out in the library until he could get to his last class.

"Well, you look like shit." Sollux kicked at Karkat when he sat down. It was joking and light, though he had some apprehension on his face. "Lack of sleep finally getting to you, or are you trying a new look?"

"Fuck off Sollux, I don't need fashion advice from you." Karkat kicked him back, though he was glad to finally have some genuine interaction today. "I've been avoiding people all day, and that turns out to be very exhausting."

"God, I know how that feels. You know how many people have been asking us about you today?" Aradia scoffed, taking a bite out of the cafeteria roll. "Seriously, two inventions work, and your dad becomes the next messiah or something."

"I think we're really downplaying the presentation, but at this point, I'm going for it." Karkat started devouring his food, taking only a brief moment to ask question. "Sollux, what've you dug up on Oberon?"

"Nothing outright bad, but definitely some shady shit." Sollux turned his laptop around, showing him an article on Ampora. It was flattering, putting him into good light as a self-made millionaire. "This guy apparently made millions not long after he graduated college, which wouldn't be weird if he'd done something to get it."

"He's apparently been able to convince several business owners to hand over their seats so many times through charisma alone. Which sounds like bullshit." Aradia's implication that it may have been possession was obvious. "Despite some accusations from them later about not remembering it, all the legal documents are legit."

"Anyone who's been too mouthy have been sued straight to hell too." Sollux brought up another article. This one was a lot less flattering, showing the picture of a woman being escorted to a car. In a strait jacket. "His ex-wife apparently said some stuff too about him being the devil and her kids being devil-spawn too. Which caused her to be institutionalized."

"Jesus Christ." This wasn't looking great for Oberon. Then again, his wife probably didn't know about the ghost powers until her kids started shifting through floors, so it wasn't like she had a frame of reference. "If you just found that through Google searches, then I'm scared to hear what the girls came up with."

"I'd love to say that it's something good, but they're still searching." Aradia waved her phone, showing the Ghostian screen. "They're on a trail right now though, just based on your description."

"No news is still news, I guess." Karkat sighed deeply, tapping his fingers on the table. "Hopefully, we can get through the rest of the day without anything happening."

The universe, as big and mysterious as it is, decided that he was being too prideful right now by having the school speakers turn on.

"_Mr. Vantas, can you please come to the office please?"_ The voice was indifferent, which matched the state of the universe pretty well, honestly. _"Mr. Vantas, can you please come to the office?"_

"…I practically asked for that, didn't I?" Karkat didn't bother waiting for a response, getting up from his seat. "Well, guess I'll see you all later. Don't have fun without me."

"I doubt we will." Sollux saluted him sarcastically as he headed out of the cafeteria. When he was good ways away, he leaned towards Aradia. "How much you wanna bet Oberon's at the front office, trying to enroll his kid."

"My mom and Heido always said to never bet against a sure thing, so I'll pass." She flicked his forehead with a smile. "Let's look up the Peixes next. I haven't found shit on Eridan and it might be a good idea to check them out too."

"Roger roger."

* * *

Karkat weighed the possibilities as he made it to the principal's office. On one hand, he figured he might get expelled, which was labeled the worst-case scenario. On the other, the best-case scenario was it was just some bureaucratic bullshit where they questioned if he needed therapy due to his dad's sudden success.

Finding Oberon and, surprisingly, Crocker with their kids talking with Aranea was simultaneously better _and _worse than both possibilities.

"Ms. Serket." He still wasn't comfortable with having her outside the Ghost Zone, but she'd been behaving and keeping her misery cultivation to a minimum. That didn't mean she wasn't on thin ice, though. "Any reason I was called up? Nice to see you again, Ampora's, Peixes."

"Ah, so you were available. That's good." Oberon smiled pleasantly. Karkat felt his skin crawl, remembering how that smile came from a man that can sound so cold while ordering someone to start a forest fire. "Nice to see you again, Vantas."

"Oh, you do know each other then. That makes this easier." Aranea did not look like she wanted to be here, especially with Karkat around. "These two here are planning to enroll Eridan and Feferi into Casper High. I figured since you probably wanted to get away from everyone…"

"Alright, I get it." Karkat would never admit it, but he was actually thankful for this. At least this gave him one on one time with Eridan. "I'll be the tour guide today. God, that would keep everyone away from me for a little bit."

"At least you know someone here already." Crocker gave Feferi a quick hug before heading off down the hallway. She stopped gave Karkat a look. "Keep an eye on her. She gets distracted easily."

"Mom!" Feferi looked embarrassed, though she didn't necessarily contradict her. She pulled Eridan towards her, which certainly threw the boy off. "Eridan keeps me out of trouble enough as is."

"That didn't stop you from trying to get into the fish tank with those sharks when we were nine." The young Ampora wilted under the glare he got from his friend seconds later. "Well, you can't say that wasn't risky."

Karkat wasn't sure how to react to that, so he figured it would be best that he didn't. He watched Oberon say goodbye to his son, making sure to watch him leave out of the corner of his eye. When he was officially out of sight, he figured he might as well get his two charges in order.

"So, if you'll follow me, I'll happily show you this level of hell we call Casper High." Karkat didn't wait for them to respond, already moving down the hall. He heard them stop bickering and follow behind him quickly. "Surprised to see you two here. Your parents are thinking about staying here then?"

"Yeah. After mom held back on getting drunk last night and figured that she should invest in some places. She thinks it'll be big thanks to your dad's work." Feferi shrugged after her explanation. It seemed like sound reasoning, at least to Karkat. "I'm pretty used to moving around a lot, though I'm kinda surprised she decided to let in a real school. I usually do stuff online."

"Likewise." Eridan didn't sound as excited as Feferi, which was characteristic of him. "Seriously, I don't get why I have to attend this place too. I've never done well in places like this."

"That might be because you're a bit of a downer, Erifish." Feferi pinched his cheek, smiling mischievously as he tried to swat her hand away. "Maybe if you cheered up and complained a little less, you'd be a little more popular."

"Hey, I can be popular if I felt like it!" The boy tried to defend himself, looking away with a pout. "I just don't want to."

"Alright, that's all well and good, but we should get this going. I do have a free period after this, but that doesn't last long." Karkat turned around, head tilting to the side. "Which means I should ask; where do you actually want to start?"

* * *

The tour had been going fine, though it wasn't like it was going to be difficult.

He'd shown them most of the place that were relevant and some of the places that weren't. He'd kept his eyes on them the whole time, trying to get a read on them, especially in how they acted.

It was pretty easy to say that if Eridan was in on whatever his dad was doing, he was extremely good at hiding it. From what he could tell, Eridan was just naturally a somewhat grumpy asshole. That didn't mean he couldn't joke around or anything, he was just like this nearly 24/7. Not to mention his occasional weird glance to him, as if he didn't know how to start talking to him, made Karkat think his existence legitimately was a surprise to him.

As for Feferi, he got the read that she wasn't really a threat unless you threatened her first. Definitely the "be nice, but take no shit" kind of person, which he could get behind. Very excitable too, especially anything related to marine biology. He actually got to talk with her about some stuff he learned himself, which was fun.

There was one thing he wanted to clear up though…

"She doesn't know anything about the ghost stuff, does she?" Karkat threw the question out there before he could stop himself. Feferi was watching some of the fish swim around in one of the school's fish tanks, far enough away from him and Eridan.

The question itself had caught the other boy off guard. Eridan made sure to double check around themselves before taking a deep sigh.

"No. She has no idea." The tension he'd been hiding was a little clearer, the mask of haughtiness giving way to open curiosity. "I sure as hell didn't expect to find _you_ here. Everything kind of came out of nowhere, and I'm just…"

Karkat wasn't fond of jumping to conclusions, but he was starting to really think Eridan wasn't involved with any of his dad's shit. There wasn't a way to fake that surprise. He'd felt that too not that long ago.

"How do you think I feel?" Karkat snorted, which seemed to put Eridan at ease somewhat. "You and your dad are the only other people in the same situation I am and I sure as hell didn't figure you'd appear at my dad's high school reunion."

"Yeah, that is kind of a long shot. I'm surprised you didn't shoot us on sight, actually." Eridan got a weird look on his face, mentioning that. It sure as hell wasn't a meet cute, that was for sure. "I mean, you were ready too. Is that normal for you to do that?"

"Some undead assholes sometimes slip through the portal and very few of them have been actively nice." Karkat shrugged, trying to play it off. Oberon may know he had fighting experience, but Eridan didn't need to know too. "The Box Ghost isn't exactly a threat. Then again, you could probably already tell."

"Boxes aren't exactly threatening. Except for coffins, I guess." Disturbing thought aside, Eridan chilled out a little. Clearly he'd been dying to talk about this all day. "My dad told me about, well…"

"Don't think about it too much. I've been trying not to." Karkat decided to cut the apology before it could come out. He wasn't in the mood for pity right now. "I've come to terms with it right now. Just dealing with it for now. At least the ghost fights help me practice my powers."

"I'm not exactly sure that's a positive, Kar." Hey, he earned a nickname. Good for him. He was definitely starting to feel guilty that he was going to start pumping him for information. "Though, I guess that ain't the worst way to learn about it."

There was a comfortable lull in the conversation that gave Karkat some time to think. What should he question about first?

"Why _did_ your dad come to the reunion, anyway? From what he told me, he had every reason not to." What excuse did Oberon give his kid? If it was just for him, then he'd be creeped out, but that would be relatively fine. If not, then what the fuck was he planning?

"I'm just as confused as you are, actually. Dad never talked about high school and he definitely never talked about your dad." Eridan paused before a cringe crossed his face. "Actually, never mind. He did mention him once after… something involving my mom. It was probably nothing though."

That didn't sound like nothing and Karkat was tempted to say otherwise. He opened his mouth before he remembered something.

"_His ex-wife apparently said some stuff too about him being the devil…"_

He clacked it shut, desperately thinking of a new topic. Not the appropriate time.

The universe seemingly took pity on him, giving him and out. That out was a window smashing not far away from them, followed by wild laughter.

Karkat flinched at the sound while Eridan and Feferi yelped. He was the first to make it to the window, looking out into the parking lot with vigilant eyes.

The culprits themselves looked like two rowdy teenagers, which wouldn't be that weird if it weren't for the broken window. Whoever they were, they'd thrown a fucking _cinderblock _through it.

What Karkat figured his obsession was flared in his chest. Someone could've gotten seriously hurt from that if they weren't careful.

"The hell is wrong with those two?" Feferi had moved beside them, looking out with disbelieving eyes. "They're lucky they didn't hit anybody with that or- hey, where're you going?!"

Karkat had casually leaped over the window, not listening to a thing she said. He was already mentally going through the people in town he knew. The two were some kind of mix of biker and grunge, which didn't match up with anyone's style. He certainly didn't remember seeing that Kurt Cobain wannabe, or that motorcycle he was leaning on. And the girl on his arm probably could've passed for punk wasn't at any concerts he'd been to.

Strangers. Typical. Guess he'd have to put the fear of god into them while they were here.

"Hey!" Karkat caught their attention easily enough, keeping a relaxed if purposeful pace. "Mind telling me just what the hell you think you're doing?"

"Hey dude." The guy waved at him casually, like he was an old friend. "Nothing much, just enjoying ourselves. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Considering the fact you're the only ones here after a _fucking cinderblock_ was thrown through a window," Karkat shrugged, stopping a good distance away from. "I'd say that there _is_ something wrong about that."

"Oh come on, that could've come from anywhere. Right Johnny?" The girl slung herself over onto the boy's shoulders, almost drunkenly. He didn't smell any alcohol on them, but people don't usually make decisions like this sober. "We're just hanging out. That ain't a crime."

"This is a high school parking lot. Who in their right mind would want to hang out here?" Karkat paused before shaking his head. "What am I saying, you two are obviously drunk. Of course you're not in your right mind."

"We're drunk on life!" Johnny cackled, raising a can high up in the air. Some of it sloshed out, hitting the pavement. Karkat recognized the smell of beer. "Me and Kitty just wanted to see some idiots waste their time here. That ain't bad."

"Damn right!" The woman raised her own cup, stumbling. She caught herself with a giggle, her own two feet betraying her. "Wow, I should probably slow down."

"You two are just sloshed right now, aren't you?" Karkat pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long sigh. "Great. Just couldn't go a day without dealing with this shit, could I?"

"Karkat!" Feferi, followed shortly by Eridan, finally caught up with him. She didn't seem bothered by the exercise, while Eridan was surprisingly winded. "Jeez, do you always run off like that? Look, I already called the police, just let them come by."

"Did- did we have to run all the way here? Why weren't there any doors closer to the lab?" Eridan looked ready to pass out. Karkat was definitely putting him low on the threat level for now. "She did call the police though. Just leave them alone."

"You see? Police are already on their way." Karkat raised his hands up, exaggeratedly. "Guess the jig is up. I'd suggest getting away from here on that little motorcycle of yours if I didn't think you'd run into somebody."

"Oh, now that's just a buzzkill." Johnny grumbled. He swigged the rest of his drink quickly down, throwing the can behind him with a lazy grin. "Real spoil sports. Can't take a window crashing without calling the police."

"How else are we supposed to respond to that?" Eridan sent a look towards Karkat, disbelief at this idiot's attitude. It wasn't like Karkat believed it either.

"Actually, one thing before I go." Johnny pointed behind them with a smile that made them feel especially uncomfortable. "I just have to say, that's the ugliest car I've ever seen."

The end of the sentence was punctuated by the revving of an engine and a large crash happening behind them, causing them all to jump. They turned to see a pink convertible having hit another car, leaving a huge dent in both. It didn't look too disastrous, though the driver got out and practically tripped out of the car, landing straight on their ass.

Karkat, having already running over to it, dully realized it was Trizza after she stopped to look at the scene with shock. She didn't look hurt, but she didn't exactly move from her spot.

"Tethis, you alright there?" Karkat stopped when he was close to the car. She didn't look hurt outwardly, but even simple accidents can cause some serious shit. "Doesn't look like a bad bump. Hope you have insurance."

"I'm fine." Trizza blinked again, still apparently not believed what just happened. "I don't even know what happened. I was just driving and then that car started backing up and just…"

She made a boom sound. She was in shock, clearly, but was otherwise fine. Karkat realized he could hear the sound of the motorcycle revving up, turning to see the couple starting to drive off. Mad laughter followed them, and he couldn't say anything.

Then he saw something else.

A shadow shot past his legs, like lightning. He didn't get a good look at it, but it stuck to the ground as it eventually molded onto the fleeing couple, taking place as theirs.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Weirdly enough, that wasn't Karkat saying it, despite agreeing with that. Aranea had apparently came out at the sound of the crash, staring at the couple with a surprised, if somewhat annoyed look on her face.

"Do you know those two?" Karkat titled his head at the disguised ghost, frowning. "Where? And how?"

Aranea jumped at the questions, though quickly recovered. "I'll tell you later." Aranea went over to check on Trizza. She motioned for Feferi to come over. "Ms. Peixes, could you please help Ms. Tethis into the building. She isn't quite herself right now."

"Okay Ms. Serket." Feferi didn't even glance behind her as she helped the girl up. Eridan followed at first but stopped when Karkat grabbed him. Feferi didn't notice, having clearly been rattled by the quick turn of events.

As the two women escorted Tethis away, Karkat whispered to Eridan as he checked the area for any security cameras. "I'm going to find those two. I think they might be ghosts or working with one."

"Wait, what? How do you figure that?" Eridan watched Karkat walk away slowly as he checked the area for anymore onlookers. "And how am I going to explain you disappearing? I'm pretty sure Ms. Serket-"

"Ms. Serket's a ghost that did some shit. Tell her if she 'dismisses' me since I seemed shook up by the accident." Karkat turned around to look Eridan in the face. He nodded curtly. "That, and I need to talk to her and maybe her sister later. She knows who that was, and I need to know what she knows."

"Okay?" Eridan, bewildered, just threw up his hands before letting them down. He clearly didn't know what to say. "What are you exactly going to do to them? I mean, they could just be human."

Karkat shrugged, a smirk placing itself on his face. "Then they're gonna get quite a goddamn scare, aren't they?"

The rings of his transformation formed around him after he said this, his feet already off the ground. He gave Eridan a quick salute before zipping towards the direction of the delinquent couple.

Eridan watched him go with his mouth slightly ajar before Karkat eventually went invisible from the public eye. He eventually shook his head before turning around sharply, heading towards the school.

"What the hell is up with this town?" He muttered, though it wasn't as sour as one would imagine. "Jesus Christ, what is wrong with this town?"

* * *

Johnny and Kitty weren't exactly the smartest couple in the world, especially when it came to making good life decisions. Day drinking, drunk driving, causing mayhem at a high school of all places, and then spreading it further into town? Not great ideas.

Karkat figured this as he was able to eventually locate them with little effort. They'd left a small trail behind them of general bad luck, which thankfully wasn't any worse than what happened to Tethis.

Apparently they stopped to just hang out in an alleyway. Well, that made sure no one else could see them if they had to fight.

Karkat slipped into the alleyway, still keeping himself invisible. He listened to the two as they kept acting like idiots.

"I can't believe you did that. We're probably going to get run out of town for it, but at least it was funny." Kitty meandered through the alley, throwing away a can of beer into a dumpster. Somehow, littering wasn't on the table for crime when it comes to them. "Pretty damn bold too. I'm surprised no one saw anything."

"Eh, it wasn't much. Not like anyone cared anyway." Johnny made it a show to throw his own can into it. "Everybody's so worried about some presentation or whatever. I'm pretty sure that cop didn't even care when we stole the beer."

"Except for that one asshole." Kitty snickered, opening another beer. She cringed at the taste of it, clearly only wanting the buzz. "Getting all uppity over a broken window. Why the hell does he care about that?"

"Somebody could've gotten _hurt."_ Karkat decided to speak up then, appearing right behind Johnny. "Then again, something tells me you don't care about that."

Kitty chocked on her drink while Johnny just yelped, turning around to find the ghostly form of Karkat floating above and behind him. It was an imposing look, he had to admit, though he floated closer to the ground. He tilted his head as they registered the spook in front of them.

"So, I'm going to ask this once." Karkat moved forward, causing them to take a step back. "How the _hell_ did you do that to the car?"

He could see the two briefly look at each other, clearly contemplating what to do. Not exactly what they planned for today, especially so forcefully.

Unfortunately for them, they made the wrong choice when Johnny raised his hand and fired an ectoblast at him.

Karkat, dodging easily since the guy was kinda drunk, couldn't help but think that at least answered one question.

Karkat immediately shot at Kitty, giving her no time to shoot a blast of her own. He dodged a swipe from Johnny, which was sloppy. Turning quickly, the halfa swung and kicked the boy in the head.

Kitty was actually able to blast at him this time, missing when the halfa shot forward and punched her in the stomach. He noted the glowing dog tags necklace around her neck, which he pulled.

A puff of smoke. One ghost.

Johnny had enough time to get up from the previous attack, groggy as he tried to fire another round. Karkat dodged again, making sure to hit Kitty with the butt of one of his sickles before firing at Johnny's feet.

The other boy stumbled at the sudden onslaught, being further assaulted by the blasts. He kept dodging, focusing on them, not noticing Karkat having made it close to him.

He had a few seconds to realize his predicament before Karkat kicked low, knocking him off his feet. Johnny hit the concrete hard, groaning as his body made the impact. A sickle was at his neck a second later, making his body go rigid.

"Don't. Move." Karkat didn't have any intention to slice Johnny's neck. The threat was to make sure Kitty didn't try to attack anymore. Noting the glow from Johnny's skull necklace, he pulled at that too, rewarded when more smoke flowed out of his mouth. "So you're both dead. I suppose that makes sense."

"Look, man, I don't know what your problem is, but we're just here to have some fun." Johnny raised his hands in the air to keep things calm. The buzz apparently left him already, which was to be expected when you have sharp object in your face. "We don't want any trouble."

"Considering I can list an several crimes I've seen you two do in the last half hour, I'd say that ship has sailed." Karkat raised a glowing hand when he saw Kitty twitch. "I don't know if you're from the Ghost Zone or came from somewhere else, but I'm going to ask you to get out of here before you hurt anyone else."

"Hey, this is a free country! We can go wherever we want!" Kitty was still drunk, apparently. Karkat increased the energy in his hand, but that didn't stop her. "We just wanted to see if any ghosts wanted some stuff to blend in! Isn't it our right to do that?"

"Not if you nearly get people killed in the process." Karkat sighed. He turned off the light in his hands, reaching for the thermos. "Looks like I'm taking you back to the Ghost Zone myself then. Should've just cooperated."

"Counterpoint?" Johnny raised a finger, pointing it at Karkat with a panicked look on his face. "Shadow, attack!"

Karkat stiffened, but it was too late as a large, pitch black mass knocked him into the wall. A loud screech could be heard as a creature slashed at him, getting him in the side before he was able to get a shot in.

Karkat slashed at the things face, shooting an ectoblast into its chest. He got a good distance away, getting a good look at the mass of shadows for the first time. Its yellow eyes locked on him, letting out another screech before charging forward once again.

Karkat dodged the swipe, slashing the arm quickly. He fired a long ectoblast at the creature, which caused it to back off. It grabbed a concrete block lying in the alley, throwing it at him at full speed. Karkat went intangible, putting his arms in front of himself instinctively when it went through him.

When he opened his eyes again, the figure was gone.

Along with Johnny and Kitty.

"God dammit." He muttered, no one responding to the curse at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm not fully satisfied with how this went, especially introducing the two people the chapter was named after so late. Then again, they're related to the big overarching arc in a small way, so they'll serve a purpose soon enough.
> 
> Onto the announcement; I'm thinking of doing a QnA type deal on my Tumblr about the two fics I'm doing right now. Feel free to ask me some questions about the fic on there and I'll try to answer them without spoiling anything. Really, just send me some questions and maybe check on them later to see if I answer them or not. I might as well try and interact with you guys outside of these notes, right?
> 
> Link Here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/the-helpless-lemon.
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter!


	22. Unlucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one went longer than I planned it to, but I guess that's not a problem for any of you. A lot more world building this time around, along with setting up future players. Hopefully you'll all enjoy.
> 
> Also, I have an idea you can all pounce on at the end of the chapter.
> 
> See you all at the end of the chapter!

Karkat figured that he fucked up. Going into a ghost fight without backup usually wasn't the wisest move, but considering they were drunk, he (technically) had the element of surprise, and they didn't seem to have a wide array of powers, he figured things would be fine.

The addition of a literal shadowy entity was unexpected. At least he knew better for the rematch.

Karkat was able to pilfer what they left behind in the alleyway before eventually heading back to school to inform Eridan of what happened. He was allowed to go home afterward, which he took as an opportunity to not only update Aradia and Sollux, but to call up Horuss after he found a particular bag amongst the ghost couple's belongings.

It didn't take long for the goggled young man to slip through the portal, greeted with a slightly battered Karkat sorting through random objects.

"Is something going on, Mr. Vantas?" Horuss noticed a few bruises lining had formed on Karkat, causing him to worry. "Did another ghost show up?"

"Two of them. Apparently the trend is pairs right now and I'm really hoping that stops soon." Karkat winced after shifting too much, the fight still fresh to him. "You brought some ectoplasm to heal me, right?"

"Yes, of course. I'd suggest you start hoarding some soon if this trend continues." Horuss handed the boy a flask, which the halfa immediately drank. "Other than that, why did you call me here? I'm not usually the first person you would ask for when something like this happens."

"I want you to look over this stuff I was able to get off the ghosts." Karkat shifted the contents of the bag to Horuss, waving at them weirdly. "I was trying to figure out if it was something important, but it looks like random junk to me. Maybe you could use it to help me track them down?"

Horuss raised an eyebrow at the request, though he did give a once over to the items strewn across the table. "These certainly don't _look _valuable."

And they didn't. Most of the stuff Karkat had found looked like cheap accessories or trinkets you'd find in someone's junk drawer. Lapels or buttons to put on jackets, generic necklaces with cheap stuff grafted onto it, and sunglasses you'd find in any random gas station. The only reason he didn't throw it away was because he figured Horuss might find a way to use it.

The ghost himself didn't seem to expect much, grabbing a random item and adjusting his goggles. A few clicks later and some careful observation later, the boy paused, apparently finding some something.

"That's odd." Horuss mumbled, looking at the lapel he'd picked out closer, lips quirked into a frown.

"What's odd?" Karkat raised an eyebrow as the ghost put the lapel down, grabbing a button next. "Is there something wrong with it? It ain't contaminated, is it?"

"No, but there's something about them that's, frankly, very familiar." Zahhak put down the button, favoring a necklace next. He got closer to it, concentrating fully on analyzing them. "I highly doubt I'll be able to track them, but can you please tell me about them?"

"They looked like one of those stereotypical biker couples, honestly. I don't think they're from the Ghost Zone." Karkat shrugged, thinking of everything he could use to describe them. "One or both of them can apparently control some kind of shadow creature? They called it Shadow. They were even something to disguise themselves into humans too. Aranea recognized them too-"

"Of course!" Horuss slammed his hand onto the table. Both of them winced, stopping to make sure no one had heard it, despite Spades being out right now.

"Mind filling me in, Tesla?" Karkat didn't really know where the nickname came from, but his patience was wearing thin. "Maybe with a little less abuse to my furniture this time?"

"You said the elder Serket recognized them, correct?" The halfa nodded, much to the ghost's excitement. "I think they may have gotten those artifacts from those two, mostly because all of these items here have similar properties to them."

Karkat blinked at the revelation, looking at the random items with a new light. "You're kidding."

"No, why would I kid?" Horuss looked confused at the accusation before picking up a couple more. "From the sounds of it, you might have accidentally run into the Serkets supplier. They most likely know how to make these things, especially on a mass scale…"

"…Meaning more ghosts probably have their hands on these." Karkat felt ecstatic for the jump on a lead, though a feeling a of dread followed his statement. How many of these did they sell before coming to Amity Park? "Fuck. Now I definitely need to find their supplier when I can."

"I'm guessing this bag wasn't the only part of their supply, so maybe I can quickly build something to help track them down." Horuss grabbed the bag and stuffed the accessories into it. "Figuring out an ecto-signature from this shouldn't be difficult. Not to mention this gives me a larger sample size to figure out how they did this."

That was the best news he could get from the techie ghost, which filled Karkat with some relief. Though, that still meant he would have to fight those two again later, with the addition of their little shadow pet.

"I'm assuming you're going to talk to the Serket's about this, correct?" Horuss got another nod from Karkat. "Then I'd suggest doing that post haste. It shouldn't take me long to build something like your fathers own ecto-detectors."

"Good to hear." He didn't look forward to getting the sister's help on all of this, but that wasn't something he could really avoid. "I just need to figure out what to do about Shadow then. Which isn't great."

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Horuss went to the portal, floating through the exit while waving goodbye. "Good luck! Don't be afraid to call me for help!"

Karkat waved him out, frowning deeply. He'd keep him out here longer if only to explain how Johnny was able to control Shadow like that, but he had the detector to make. He really didn't want to head into the Ghost Zone alone, especially if he was going to visit the Serkets.

…Wait. He could probably kill two birds with one stone.

Taking out his phone, along with a particular business card, Karkat typed in a number quickly before putting the phone to his ear. When a click was heard, he spoke up first before they could.

"Oberon," Karkat started, gulping down his spit before continuing. "I'm going to need to your help."

* * *

It didn't take them long to come over. Karkat heavily suspected Oberon had been keeping an eye on the phone, not to mention Eridan would tell him what happened earlier. Karkat had kept the portal closed until they got there just in case something tried to slip out.

"I still don't think I'll ever get used to this place." Oberon muttered, having slipped through the ceiling. He was in his ghost form currently, eyeing all the inventions on the wall. "I'm surprised Spades doesn't have any security systems put into place. Or did you disable them?"

"He's working on it right now." The fact that he brought it up rubbed Karkat the wrong way, though he made sure to keep it to himself. He turned to Eridan, who was following his dad like a lost puppy the entire time. "You told him what happened earlier, right?"

"Yeah, about the two people from earlier?" Eridan rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "You said those two were ghosts? How the hell did they disguise themselves?"

"I'll explain as soon as my contact gets here." Karkat checked his phone again, the number he texted still remaining dead. "She should be here in about three, two, one…"

On cue, a shadow shifted through the ceiling of the basement, catching the other hybrids off guard. The familiar shape of Aranea's true form, eight eyes and all, withheld a glare long enough to notice them.

"Mr. Vantas, who are these two?" Aranea reached for glasses that currently weren't there, stopping before muscle memory could take its course. "I thought you wanted to talk alone."

"I'm not stupid enough to try that. Trust takes time, Serket." Karkat waved lazily at the two groups, eyebrow raised. "Oberon, Eridan, this is Aranea. Aranea, this is the Ampora's."

"Holy crap, you actually are a ghost." Eridan floated around the shadowy form of Aranea, backing up as all eight eyes glanced towards him. "Kinda surprised you can hold a human look on you, though. How did you do that?"

"I'm more curious that there's a ghost working as your school counselor." Oberon raised an eyebrow of his own. "I'm assuming she's one of the ghosts that slipped out of the portal at some point?"

"No, she's from the human world. And she's on probation, which is why I asked you to be here." Karkat shrugged, giving Serket the side eye. "Among other things. I wanted to ask you some questions about some powers I might get, and I figured giving you a space walk through the portal would be an equal exchange for it."

"You do realize I would've helped you for free, right?" Oberon didn't seem to mind the implied offer, though, eyeing the portal with open hunger. "Though I would like to get to know the other side a bit better."

"We're actually going in?" Eridan tried being reserved about this, but he was clearly excited about the prospect. "Is it safe in there? I've only met four ghosts before this, and today makes five."

"Well, you'll probably get to know a few more after this then." Karkat gave a look towards Aranea, who'd been quiet since he'd name dropped the Ampora's. "I'm going to need you to take us to where you and your sister are staying right now. Might as well see what she knows too."

"You three…. Are they…?" The pretend counselor stuttered for a moment longer before sighing, rubbing her hand down her face. "Who's going to watch the portal, then? Shouldn't somebody be keeping an eye on it?"

"I've got a friend doing that for us." Karkat had called Muelin and she agreed to keep anything from slipping out. At most, she'd have to worry about the Box Ghost or a few ectopuses, but she'd otherwise be fine. "Now let's get this show on the road. Dad's out of the house for only a few more hours and we need to make the time."

He changed forms seconds later, rings of light blinding everyone. He floated upwards, pointing at Aranea. "You're going in first. Lead us to it, Serket."

Aranea didn't bother arguing, especially since she was outnumbered. She dived into the portal, followed closely by the three others. Karkat gave a thumbs up to Muelin, who waved from her vantage point not that far away from them.

It took a few minutes for conversation to start up again. Eridan was busy looking around the Ghost Zone with open awe while Oberon gave it a more critical eye. It was too experienced, like he'd seen it before somehow and he was simply matching it up with something else.

Karkat let them have this time to quietly observe them before Oberon spoke up.

"Is there a particular question you had about powers? I'm assuming it's related to that incident from earlier." Oberon said it casually, taking a glance at one of the larger building in the distance. "Assuming those two were ghosts, of course."

"They were. One of them just happened to have a power I haven't seen before, though." Karkat adjusted the gas mask to hold on tighter. He'd seen how Oberon looked over his ghost form and it made him uncomfortable. "He somehow brought up this weird shadow demon thing. I don't know what it was, though."

"They had a minion?" Eridan snorted at the thought, looking towards Aranea briefly to check they weren't being led astray. "Might be an elemental thing or a unique power. Explains the car crash, honestly."

Karkat raised an eyebrow, wordlessly asking them to continue.

"Ghosts, in our experience, do have plenty of common powers to them. Ecto-blasts, intangibility, invisibility, and similar abilities." Oberon counted them off one by one. "Of course, more powerful ghosts can access different powers. Duplication, minor shapeshifting, and telekinesis are ones I've discovered."

"Some ghosts, though, have something completely all their own. One of the more common versions of these differences are elemental powers." Eridan shrugged, holding a hand up. A small, bright light appeared in it, floating carefully in his hands. "We can do a bit of photokinesis, better known as light manipulation."

"Then Johnny or Kitty might be able to manipulate shadows." Karkat thought that over for a few seconds before shaking his head. "That can't be right. Johnny did send that Shadow after me, but it was way too alive to just be a manipulation."

"Then it's most likely not umbrakinesis then." Oberon hummed, thinking it over. "Certain ghosts can develop abilities that are only relative to them. I've found that I'm able to talk to sea creatures, which isn't that surprising due to our unique physiology."

"It's probably related to how they died. At least, that's my theory." Eridan shrugged at the disappointed look sent his way. "Sorry we couldn't help more. Sounds pretty complicated."

"Not your fault. Not like I can just google their names to find out how they died." Karkat had gotten lucky Vriska was too stupid to change her name before starting to perform. He was pretty sure it wouldn't work a second time. "The two are bikers, so I probably wouldn't find anything about their deaths that isn't related to the thousand other motorcycle accidents in America. Especially with the names Johnny and Kitty."

"And they died so young too. What a shame." Oberon clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Maybe this Shadow of theirs was a pet? If so, that's even more tragic."

"Of course you'd think the pet's death is more tragic than a person." Eridan chuckled, though somewhat morosely. "Do you think it was a cat or a dog?"

"Not sure. It sure as hell can scratch like a cat but listens like a dog." Karkat chuckled. He thanked the fact Horuss was able to supply the ectoplasm, otherwise he'd still be injured. "And hey, just because two people died doesn't mean they had to drag a pet into it."

It was a grim joke, but everyone laughed at it. Aranea had barely looked behind her to wonder to what they were talking about before shrugging and getting back to flying.

It didn't take long after that to reach Aranea and Vriska's home. Redglare was able to get them a temporary lair for now until they decided to make their own. It looked like a cozy little house, which would normally be nice. It was only offset by the music blaring from the place as it floated in the Ghost Zone without any foundation.

"This is it. I should probably warn Vriska that you're here, otherwise she'll shoot you on sight." Aranea slipped into the house before they could talk further. It was probably for the best.

"Do you want us to go in there?" Eridan probably wanted to act as backup or study the house from the inside. "I don't exactly have any fighting experience. Haven't really run into a lot of hostile ghosts before."

"I think I'll be good for now. I'll show you guys some places I know after I'm done." Karkat moved to the door with some trepidation. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation. "I'd stick out here and make sure nobody interrupts if I were you. Especially if you haven't gotten into any fights."

Karkat believed Eridan certainly didn't get into any fights in his ghost form, but he figured Oberon would be okay. He did scare Skulker for some unknown reason, so he must be able to fight somehow. Not to mention some of the powers he mentioned.

"We'll hold down the fort. I highly doubt anyone will show up anyway." Oberon waved it off, extremely self-assured. "I doubt your interrogations will take up that much time."

Karkat decided not to ask how he knew that. He figured he'd just take it at face value for now.

Slipping into the house, he hoped that this didn't get to hectic before he got any answers.

* * *

"Why the fuck is he here?!"

Karkat figured his optimism was misplaced after Vriska nearly attacked him on sight, with Aranea having to tackle her before she could lay a hand on him. A few things were thrown at him that were easy to avoid, but the sisters hadn't stopped arguing. He hadn't even said a word since he got inside.

"Look, I know it isn't pleasant having him here, but he just wants to know a few things we do." Aranea did her best to placate her hotheaded sister, but Vriska was having none of it. "He'll only be here briefly as long as we answer a few questions."

"About what?!" Vriska's ice powers were going haywire, dropping the temperature of the room the louder her voice got. "It's his fault that our gig got interrupted! If he wants to know anything, he could get it from your bootlicker ass."

"The only reason he stopped us is because you-" Aranea stopped herself, taking a deep breath. She had switched back into her more human form, but the shadows danced around her still. "You know what? I'm not having this argument again. Can you please just cooperate with him?"

"The hell I will!" Vriska turned to face Karkat for the first time since she tried tackling him. She practically growled, eyes narrowing dangerously. The stranger one looked actually intimidating when she did that. "What do you even want? You already screwed things up enough already."

"I'm here for information, Vriska. Two ghosts showed up and your sister recognized them." Karkat remained cool despite being in the home of two somewhat hostile ghosts. He had backup outside if things went sideways. "And after having a friend analyze some stuff they were carrying; it was similar to what you two used to disguise yourselves. It doesn't sound like a coincidence."

"Right, you still have my eyepatch. I do want that back at some point, y'know. Getting some concerts here is pretty fucking difficult." Vriska floated onto a couch they had, plopping down into the cushions. She gave Aranea a lazy glare. "Who is even talking about?"

"Johnny and Kitty." Aranea's voice was full of disdain. Looks like they certainly had a history. "They decided to break a window at his school and sicked Shadow onto him."

Karkat noted a shift in Vriska's focus, her irritation wavering to the mentioned couple. "I'm guessing that rings a bell?"

"Yeah, I remember those two. Real stereotypical biker couple, right?" Vriska received a nod from the masked halfa. "God that guy was kinda creepy. Didn't he keep staring at your tits the last time we saw him, Aranea?"

"Don't remind me. It took so much effort not to kick him where the sun doesn't shine." Aranea crossed her arms over her chest as if Johnny were in the room. "Then again, it looked like Kitty would've done so for me."

"Well, even if he is a dick or not, I'm not telling you shit." Vriska picked up her guitar, strumming it softly. "If anything, I should be rooting for them. Did Shadow happen to kick your ass?"

Karkat fought back an instinctual growl at the show of disrespect. He'd expected it, but he did need information somehow.

"Then you're dumber than I thought." Karkat smirked behind the gas mask as the musician glared at him for the insult. "I would've thought you would want to get back into the human world quicker so you can sustain yourself better."

Aranea stopped, raising an eyebrow at the mention. "Would you mind explaining that Mr. Vantas?"

"You do realize I could not only help you get your sentence lightened by Redglare, but actually help get you gigs to satisfy your obsessions, right?" Karkat tilted his head as irritation changed to intrigue on the Serket's faces. "Redglare might listen to me if I report that you two are on good behavior. Not to mention I could help set up little concerts for Vriska to play at and maybe get Aranea a job where she can reap misery a lot more ethically."

"This can't be that simple. You wouldn't do this for only one fight." Vriska strummed her guitar louder, the ghost sneering at him. "You'll want more than that."

"You're not wrong. This would only be a start." Karkat wasn't going to let them off that easy. But a few more ghostly allies would be a boon. "Of course, the more favors you do for me, the more time you two get out in the human world. I wouldn't throw that option away."

The sister sent a brief glance towards one another that said a lot. They were both clearly contemplating it, though they were being offered this by an enemy.

"What exactly would be an 'ethical' place for me to work at?" Aranea leaned against a wall, hips cocked. "Not to mention places that would support my sister's music career."

"Amity Park may not be that big, but there are plenty of places for her to play at. We can even test what streaming services and YouTube videos do for her under our supervision." Karkat shrugged. He had thought about this before, with this whole Johnny and Kitty situation being a good catalyst for it. "As for you, it might be a good idea to fake some criminal psychology records. Aranea Serket, prison psychiatrist would be a good title to have."

Another glance was shared, but the halfa had a feeling they made up their minds. It was too good of an offer not to take.

"Fine. We'll help you occasionally as long you hold up on your end, no questions asked." Vriska sat up, putting her hand out there. "Is that good?"

Karkat smiled, grabbing her hand with his hand, shaking it firmly.

"_**We have a deal."**_

Karkat and Vriska felt a pain in their palms as he spoke this, pulling away instantly. Karkat had enough time to see some ectoplasm mixed with blood to slip off his hand before the wound closed instantly. Judging from Vriska's expression, she was dealing with much the same thing.

There was a moment of awkward silence that was broken by Aranea clearing her throat.

"Well," She said, frowning as Vriska wiped off the ectoplasm onto the couch. "Not sure what that was. What did you exactly want to know?"

Karkat shook his head, deciding to shelve his question on what happened for later. "Honestly, I need a rundown of their powers, their relationship, and whatever you know about them selling those disguising artifacts. Any information you can give me."

"Well, I can easily say those two aren't exactly powerful. Hell, I'm certainly better than they are on that front." Vriska leaned back onto the couch, guitar in hand yet again. "Standard power set and not much else. Really, Shadow's the only thing special about them."

"He's able to blend into the background and such, along with messing with items to cause literal bad luck." Aranea put a finger to her chin, thinking back onto her own memories of the creature. "Though, light is an obvious weakness of his. It'd be better to fight them during the day, or in a well-lit area. Or carry flash bangs with you."

The halfa didn't exactly have those kinds of options unless he got some more help from Horuss. "Any idea on how to attack them a bit more personally?"

"They're both pretty stupid. I mean, they threw a brick through a window and didn't expect to get in trouble for it." Aranea had certainly been annoyed by that. Especially since it drew attention towards her too. "It wouldn't be difficult to outsmart them."

"I'd go for their relationship, though. Kitty is _really _insecure and Johnny flirts with every girl he sees." Vriska laughed as she thought of something. "Hell, we met them while they were arguing about him talking up a girl working at a gas station. Those two aren't exactly stable."

"What about their little side business? Any ideas on that?" Karkat really hoped this bore fruit. Unfortunately, he could see the confusion on their faces. "I'm guessing that isn't a simple solution."

"Yeah, we don't really know much about the disguise business. We just found them after meeting a few ghosts that apparently bought them from them." Vriska shrugged, not looking sorry in the slightest. "You'll have to ask them yourself."

"If anything, we don't think they made those accessories. Again, not very smart." Aranea didn't seem sorry either, though at least she was polite. "That's all we know right now."

"Good enough. I'll make sure to tell Redglare that you've been on your best behavior then." Karkat made a move to leave before a though occurred. "Oh, and if a guy named Horuss Zahhak stops by, he'll give you some phones with a message app on them. Make some accounts. I'll contact you if I need any more help."

They said their goodbyes, Karkat feeling a bit better about what he'd do know. Now he just needed to plan.

* * *

Karkat was able to get him and the Ampora's out of the Ghost Zone without incident. They said their goodbyes and exchanged numbers for further contact. As for what the halfa as doing, he was just checking on the others progress as he laid in his bed, pretending to be asleep.

CG: ROLE CALL! HOW'S EVERYONE'S PROGRESS?

AA: karkat! h0w's everything g0ing? y0u find inf0rmati0n 0n th0se gh0sts y0u menti0ned earlier?

TA: we've been re2earchiing the peiixe2 and diidn't fiind anythiing, fyii. they're clean, a2 far a2 we can tell.

GC: YOU WOULD NOT B3L13V3 TH3 SH1T W3 FOUND. WH4T'S TH1S 4BOUT 4NOTH3R GHOST?

AC: :33 are you seriously fighting other ghosts again karkitty?

CG: IT'S A LONG STORY. TEREZI, WHAT DID YOU FIND ON THE OTHER HALFA?

GC: 4 LOT. TURNS OUT TH1S J4CK4SS 1S 1NVOLV3D W1TH SOM3 PR3TTY SC4RY P3OPL3 H3R3 1N TH3 1NF1N1T3 R34LMS.

AC: :33 he's also connected to skulker. that poachers b33n doing his dirty work fur a while meow.

TA: and tho2e gho2t2 you fought? any word on them?

AA: and th0se tw0 new students, d0n't f0rget ab0ut them.

Karkat felt a stone form in his stomach, causing it to ache. He figured there'd be confirmation of Oberon's guilt, but it still hurt to hear.

CG: ERIDAN AND FEFERI ARE CLEAN AS FAR AS I KNOW. I DO HAVE BETTER INFORMATION ON THOSE GHOSTS AND PLAN ON GETTING TO THEM TONIGHT.

CG: OH, AND ARANEA AND VRISKA WORK FOR ME NOW SO THEY CAN GET LENIENCY FROM REDGLARE. ANOTHER LONG STORY.

AC: :33 j33z, you really work fast.

GC: GOOD TO KNOW, BUT 1 DON'T TH1NK W3'LL B3 4BL3 TO H3LP. MY MOM'S B33N K33P1NG 4N 3Y3 ON M3 4ND 1 DON'T TH1NK SH3'LL L3T M3 OUT TO F1GHT.

AC: :33 mine too. she was not happy to figure out that i lied to her about stuff.

TA: famiily game niight for me. 2orry, but my dad'2 wiill get worriied iif ii try two baiil.

AA: dad's been w0rrying ab0ut the presentati0n stuff, even if heid0's trying t0 calm him d0wn. he's set up curfew right n0w.

CG: ARE YOU ALL SERIOUS? FUCK, IS EVERYONE BUSY TONIGHT?

AA: the presentati0n did cause a stir, karkat. this is just bad timing.

TA: aa'2 riight. don't go fiightiing tho2e gho2t2 alone, though.

AC: :33 maybe you can get the serket's to help? you got them to agr33 with you on a deal, right?

GC: 1 WOULDN'T TRUST TH3M JUST Y3T. VR1SK4 S33MS L1K3 TH3 TYP3 TO TRY 4ND 3SC4P3 4T F1RST NOT1C3.

Terezi had a point there. Karkat had only just set up a deal with the Serket's today and he didn't want to risk Vriska taking advantage of his trust. He couldn't exactly trust Oberon to help, especially since that would mean he's under the man's debt too. Something he wanted to avoid for now.

…He was being stupid again. He didn't just make friends with Oberon today.

Karkat quickly typed into the chat once again, a plan forming in his head already.

CG: I THINK I ALREADY KNOW WHO TO BRING.

* * *

The lights within the town of Amity Park's namesake were bright within the night, illuminating it beautifully. Shadows danced softly as the creatures within it passed through, the quiet giving the place a borderline eerie, but peaceful, aura.

It was disrupted almost immediately by the sound of a motorcycles roar and the shattering of glass as another set of streetlamps were broken.

"Johnny, I don't think we need to break any more lights. I haven't seen anyone at all here." Kitty adjusted herself on the seat, the wind not bothering her. She did cringe as more lights were broken. "I really don't think we need to worry right now."

"I thought that too, until a guy had a knife to my neck earlier." Johnny had Shadow shatter a few more lights with impunity, frantically looking around him. "Seriously, where did that guy even come from? I didn't know anyone haunted this place."

"You really think he's going to come after us again? Shadow probably scared him off." Kitty sighed to herself, leaning away from her boyfriend. "Probably shouldn't have thrown that brick into the window…"

"Excuse me?" Johnny stopped the motorcycle, glaring at his girlfriend with narrowed eyes. Shadow continued to gleefully destroy lights behind them. "I remember _you_ laughing your ass off when I did that."

"I was drunk!" Kitty yelled, getting off the bike in a huff.

"So was I!" Johnny used the bikes kickstand, leaning onto the handlebars with a sigh. Taking a deep breath, he moved up again. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just pissed we had to leave the merchandise behind."

"God, I almost forgot about that." Kitty leaned against one of the lights. She ran a hand down her face. "Our supplier is _not_ going to be happy that we lost that stuff. That guy probably stole it or something just to tick us off."

"That wasn't the real reason, but I'm not against the results."

The couple jumped at the sound of the new, familiar voice. Johnny instinctively raised a glowing hand at it, face set into a scowl.

Karkat, in full Phantom form, only raised an eyebrow. He twirled one of his sickles as he sat on a streetlight. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You might get out of this without any more scrapes if you play along."

"Fat fucking chance. You really think I want to listen you?" Johnny mentally pulled Shadow over to a better place to help surround the halfa. Kitty had gotten to a better position without him needing to say anything. "I'm not exactly willing to trust a guy that held a knife to my throat earlier."

"It's a sickle, but that's not the important thing here." Karkat hopped off the streetlight, floating in the air. He kept his eyes on the two the entire time, only giving Shadow a passing glance. "You were taking about those disguise accessories you had on you earlier. I want to know where you've been getting them."

"Hell no." Kitty crossed her arms, a deep frown on her face. "You really think we want to tell you that? Besides, you have plenty to work with, so I doubt you need anymore."

"It's not really about having more of those. I just need information on who gave it to you." Karkat waved his hand in the air, peacefully. "I'm willing to _overlook_ that bout of vandalism since you two were clearly drunk as long as you don't do it again. Just tell me who made the accessories, and no one has to get hurt."

"And I said fat fucking chance pal." Johnny actually smirked this time, jerking his head to Kitty. "I'm pretty sure we've got you outnumbered now. Shadow was more than enough for you and I think I'd like a rematch."

"We're not drunk either, so I don't it'd be that easy for you this time." Kitty lit up one of her own hands. She smiled too, as darkly as her boyfriends. "So maybe just beat it before we make an example here."

Karkat sighed deeply. Why did he expect things to be different this time around?

"Fine then." Karkat cleared his throat before raising his voice. "Now!"

A pillar of light suddenly shot out of the darkness, hitting Shadow dead on with extreme prejudice. The creature screeched as Eridan suddenly shot forward, hitting it with his entire weight. Shadow was flung backwards, hitting ground with a large thud.

This stunned the two ghosts long enough for Karkat to fire several ecto-blasts in their directions. One of them hit Kitty dead on while the other missed Johnny, who hit the gas on his motorcycle immediately. The vehicle flew into the air, swerving to head straight towards Karkat.

While the ghost tried to run the halfa over, Eridan sent more light blasts in Shadow's direction, making it move back. The creature slowly grew smaller, even when a blast didn't connect, causing it to be even harder to hit. Shadow did swipe a few times Eridan's way, but the teen swiped back just as much.

As for Karkat, he was finding it a little difficult to fight them while they were sober. Kitty was able to fire a lot more shots at him while Johnny only sent the occasional shot while trying to run him over. Karkat dissuaded that by firing very powerful blasts at him when he got too close.

Karkat dodged another attempt on his life as Johnny cursed, deciding to take another course. He flew straight at Kitty, sending blast after blast at her, which she dodged as fast as she could. Hearing a motorcycle rev behind him, he suddenly flew upwards. Johnny had to swerve to avoid hitting Kitty, while Karkat fired a few shots from above them, hitting them both.

Eridan had to change tactics as this happened, going for more melee strikes with his claws when Shadow became too small to hit directly with his beams. Claws coated in light, it hurt the creature even more, screaming hellishly at every swipe. The thing looked ready to run by now, looking towards its master with scared eyes.

Karkat noticed this, dodging another attempt to run him over. An idea formed in his head suddenly, turning to face the two of them.

"You know, I thought you and your sister would put up a better fight than this." Karkat twirled a sickle, smirking behind the gas mask. "Maybe you aren't as good as you think you are at this."

"I'm not his sister, you jackass, I'm his girlfriend." Kitty pointed at herself, offended by the insult and insinuation. "And I'm pretty sure we're putting up a good fight here."

"Same can't be said about you." Johnny laughed derisively, though it wasn't as convincing as he thought it was. The fight was clearly winding them both down, with the young man sending glances toward Shadow fretfully. "What makes you think she's my sister anyway?"

"You aren't?" Karkat faux surprise was pretty convincing, widening his eyes almost comically. "Aranea didn't seem to think so. Said you kept on checking her out last time you two talked."

"The spider bitch?" Kitty looked confused at first before registering the rest of Karkat's sentence. "Wait, he was doing what?! Johnny, you said you were thinking of getting a dress like hers for me!"

"I was!" Johnny looked immediately so guilty and freaked out by the change in topic. "I wasn't checking her out, I swear! I'm not lying this time!"

Karkat smiled as the two began to argue, a few swear words being thrown at each other. The halfa slowly drew back at first before suddenly shooting forward.

"-just like that in Minneapolis!" Kitty didn't have enough time to finish her lecture before a foot was planted in her side, causing her to fly backwards. Before she could register the pain, she hit a streetlight with enough force shake it.

Karkat smirked as he heard a yell come from Johnny, as well as the telltale sign of the engine revving loudly. The ghosts sped towards him, murder in his eyes as the halfa shot up, twisting around to kick the ghost in the face. Johnny flew off the bike, which flew behind the halfa and flipped over crashing to a stop.

Karkat picked up the ghost by the scruff of his jacket, throwing him towards a slowly recovering Kitty before grabbing the thermos. He sucked up the bike and Shadow before the creature could come protect its masters.

Eridan stopped before looking at Karkat quizzically. The halfa gave him a thumbs up before slowly moving towards the couple, sickle at the ready in case they resisted further.

"Now that that unpleasantness is out of the way, maybe you two will finally give me something to work with here." Karkat raised a sickle, ectoplasm flowing around the blade as he glared at them. "Who gave you that shit? No bullshit either."

"Fuck you." Johnny spat on the ground, the spit mixed with ectoplasm. "This was a good racket until you got here. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Someone who knows how to take you down and even made sure to get good help for it." Karkat jerked his head towards Eridan to emphasize this. The glow on the sickle grew stronger. "Talk."

The ghostly couple looked at each other for a brief moment, weighing their options. Kitty was the first to break.

"We don't know his name. All we know is the guy is human and working for some other people." Kitty licked her lips, desperately trying to remember anything useful. "Said he gets it from a ghost in Limbo or whatever you call it."

"Big burly guy, had a lot of hair." Johnny tried sitting up but stopped when Karkat's hand twitched. "Said he knew another guy that could track us down if we screwed him over. We just wanted some money for alcohol. Are we done here?"

Karkat tilted his head, thinking it over. He eventually nodded, pulling up the thermos. "Good enough."

He sucked them in before they could protest, capping the thermos. The halfa sighed before hearing a loud cheer come from Eridan.

"Holy shit, I didn't think it would go that well!" Eridan was still trying to sound cool and everything, but the fact he looked ready to do a victory dance ruined that. "Did you see me out there? I kicked that Shadow's ass!"

"Hell yeah you did." Karkat chuckled at the show of enthusiasm. "Thanks for showing up. Sorry I had to call you so short notice."

"Eh, it made sense to bring me. Shadows don't do well against light, so why not call me?" Eridan stretched before stopping. A thought occurred. "Are you sure you don't want my dad to know about this? He'd probably be happy to know I actually can fight."

"I'd keep quiet about it for now." Karkat felt dirty for suggesting it, but he didn't want to owe Oberon anything. He especially didn't need to know about his investigation here. "I'll send him a message telling him the problem's solved and leave it at that. Again, I owe you for this."

"Don't mention it." Eridan still seemed to have a lot of adrenaline in his system, shooting off into the air before waving goodbye. "See ya' at school!"

Karkat waved him off, doing his best to remain upbeat. The fight would've been hell if Eridan hadn't decided to show up, so he was in high spirits. Though the information he just got was pretty worrying, especially on what it meant.

Humans were involved who had at least some access to the Ghost Zone. And judging by who they were giving the accessories to, this was a problem.

The halfa sighed, putting his equipment away. He looked around to check if there was anymore evidence he could hide before settling on a small baggie with some more accessories spilled out. Guess that wasn't the only stuff they had earlier.

Karkat grabbed it, though stopped when he noticed some had spilled out. He grabbed a metal necklace that had the Cancer symbol at its base.

Tilting his head, he shrugged before pocketing it and flying off. He might as well have a souvenir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hopefully that was a satisfying conclusion. You might recognize some people from the descriptions alone, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it more when they finally appear.
> 
> Also, I have an idea for you guys. Since I make so many playlists, I want you guys to suggest a couple to me to make a playlist of involving this fic. You can also suggest ones for the other fic I'm writing if you so please. I can guarantee how quickly they'll be done, but I'll make sure to announce them in later chapters.
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter!


	23. Splitting Images

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Hope you all appreciate this next chapter.
> 
> This ones a little more disconnected from the main story, but there's still some stuff in the background about it. Also, I'm kinda doing a thing with this new ghost coming up. I'm kinda combining two of the ghosts into one for this and any Danny Phantom fans will most likely recognize who I combined. Homestucks will probably get this character down pat too.
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you all at the end of the chapter!

Karkat figured that he had a lot of balls in the air right now. Not only was he going to school, but he was moonlighting as a superhero, trying to investigate a possible supervillain, and maybe trying to work out powers he still didn't fully understand. He even played part time rehabilitator if working with the Serkets counted as that.

So to say the least, he wasn't looking forward to his math test today.

Karkat grumbled as he sorted out today's books in the kitchen, moving them around before throwing them in there. He did have time to study for it, but the Box Ghost kept coming back out of the Ghost Zone, bring ectopuses out with him. It wasn't difficult to take him down, but that didn't mean the chase wasn't annoying.

He'd have to find a way to make him calm down at some point. Maybe learn his real name too.

At least the hours of wakefulness did give him time to talk to Horuss about the "accessories." They were done flip flopping on naming them and they stuck with that since they only activated when ghosts were wearing them.

Zahhak had made some progress on studying them since the incident with Johnny and Kitty. Said that whoever made them had a lot of skill and used plenty of tech based in the Ghost Zone. Borderline nanobot stuff. Horuss even said it looked familiar, which probably meant he'd find out who was supplying this 'hairy human' that the biker ghosts who was supplying them.

That was admittedly the thing that freaked Karkat out the most, honestly. He wasn't against the idea of giving ghosts way to blend in, but this guy obviously didn't give a shit who he gave it to. Johnny and Kitty were absolute shit heads with their powers, yet the guy decided to give them a way to do whatever they wanted, all while under the radar?

Just what was the game here?

Well, he'd have to save that for later. Terezi was supposed to give him the update on the Oberon situation. Plus, again, he had a test to stay awake through.

He was just about to leave when Spades walked in, mumbling something as he immediately went to the coffee maker. The man waved him down before the boy could leave, eye opening up blearily.

"Don't bother. I got an email from your school and apparently they canceled today." Spades turned on the coffee pot before slumping into his seat. "Besides, it's a mess out there. I wouldn't go outside yet if I were you."

"The hell are you talking about?" Karkat grabbed his own phone, dazed as he opened up his email. Turns out his dad was right since he apparently got it half an hour ago. He must've not noticed due to lack of sleep. "Why'd they cancel? Is this about the presentation?"

"Kinda. National press finally decided to double down on the whole town. Teachers are dealing with a lot people asking how they'll teach the kids about this." Spades took the pot of coffee off the maker, taking a sip before cringing. "Plus, there's protesters outside. Might want to stay inside for now."

"I'm sorry, protesting?" Karkat dropped his bag, moving to the window. He cracked open the blinds before jerking back. "Jesus Christ."

And there certainly were pictures of him about, mostly on signs of some very angry people. Some were accompanied by Christian bible verses and other holy books, a few people with crude drawings of his father as the devil, and other very unflattering things. The only ones that stood out where people carrying large camera's, most likely members of the press.

"I'm surprised it took them this long to get here." Spades didn't exactly look happy about it, but he didn't seem too disturbed. "Figured they'd come right down here after I showed a working portal, but they sure took their sweet time."

"Why are they so quiet? I would've thought they'd be shouting by now." Karkat moved back to the table, feeling a bit frantic. Having so many people around the house felt really dangerous. "Is the security system on? I feel like they're going to storm the house."

"It is, and they stopped chanting hours ago. The police came around and told them to be quiet since it's still a neighborhood." Spades cursed under his breath. "Lazy assholes didn't tell them to leave though. Surprised you didn't hear it."

They must've got here sometime after he got to sleep. He was probably too tired to hear them until it was too late. "At least they aren't throwing shit at the house."

"Don't tempt fate kid. Before the police got here, I'm pretty sure some of those Christian Warrior people looked ready to burn this place down." Spades laughed, though it was twinged with a bit of worry. "I am expecting a call, but I don't think it'll be much. Looks like a relaxing day at home today."

"Hopefully." Well, Karkat's day was shot. Maybe if his dad didn't notice him, he could take a look into the Ghost Zone and hang out with Terezi and Nepeta. He did get Redglare to round up the biker ghosts, so maybe he should get some information on that.

Of course, the universe probably sensed his plans, since Spades phone range immediately afterwards. The man picked it up immediately, raised eyebrows as he did.

"Ms. Ursama? I thought you weren't going to call till later." Slick moved the phone away from his ear for a moment before immediately trying to calm down the voice on the other end. "Whoa, hey, calm down. Did something happen? Okay, I'll head right over. Just wait, I need to get ready and I'll be right there."

Spades hung up the phone, standing up suddenly. "Looks like there's been a change of plans. Someone wants me to check out a possible ghost sighting and apparently something happened."

"How are you going to get out there?" Karkat was a little surprised to hear about this. Considering he was known as the local nutjob until last week, he honestly didn't expect to hear him go out on a legitimate call. "You're really going to risk the mob for this?"

"I've got something up my sleeve, don't worry. Did some work on the car." The man grabbed an apple from the fridge, munching down on it. "Besides, Ms. Ursama sounded really urgent. Rather not keep her waiting."

Karkat thought it over. If this were legit, either his dad was going to fight a legitimately threatening ghost that could kill him or hurt an innocent one in a misunderstanding. A part of him, most likely his obsession, flared up at that, though he didn't know for which person it was for. All his previous plans went out the window after a question slipped past his lips.

"Can I come along?"

* * *

The answer to that question had been a resounding "Hell yes!" His dad was then proud to show him his latest and, in Karkat's opinion, his second most terrifying invention.

He invented a goddamn hovercar.

"Dad, do you know how to drive this fucking thing?!" Karkat held onto his seat rests for dear life, the car wobbling as Spades recklessly flew the thing through the streets. There were thankfully few other cars around, though they wouldn't have been hit thanks to fact it floated. "Jesus Christ, slow down!"

"I just invented this, of course I don't know how to drive it!" Spades wasn't doing bad in his opinion, especially since this was the first time using it. He'd basically bought up an old RV, refurbished it, and then added hover tech to it, so it wasn't like it was that alien. The faces of those protestors were worth it anyway. "Besides, what are the cops going to do?! Take away my license?! You don't need one to drive a hover car!"

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of!" Karkat looked at the GPS before pointing at a nearby building. "This our stop!"

Karkat was glad that was true, especially when his dad finally smoothed things over into a stop. The car thumped to the ground as the wheels unfurled below it, causing the occupants to bounce inside. The teen honestly felt a disoriented while his dad just shrugged, getting out of RV with a stretch.

"Hey, looks like we're here early!" Spades went to the back, opening it to find some of the more discrete ghost weapons. "Let's get inside before they change their minds. Might actually catch a ghost this time."

Karkat slowly got out of the car, studying the place with some minute interest. He was kinda surprised to see what it was.

It was, of all things, a daycare/preschool. It had all the makings of one as it was a mostly white building with a red roof, a cutesy sign at the top saying "Maryam Children's Center." It was slight bigger than a normal daycare would be, as it was the only one in town, but the colorful decorations in the window sold it.

As far as he was aware, the place was technically a chain, though a reliable one. Any profits to the company usually went back to the employees and volunteers or just improving the facilities as a whole. This one happened to be run by Casper High alumni Bronya Ursama.

The young woman herself came out, blinking at the sight of the garish RV. Karkat didn't have enough shame to feel bad about it, but he did wave at her.

"It looks like you arrived on time Mr. Slick." Bronya watched as Spades closed up the RV, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry to call you so soon. I wasn't sure you would come out so fast."

"Eh, I needed to get away from home anyway. So, where's this ghost you called about?" Spades adjusted his hat, looking around. "Can't say I expected this place to be haunted. Looks too new to be."

"Can we please not mention the haunting outside of here? Or the children?" Bronya tried to keep the ghost talk down. She gave a brief glance towards Karkat. "Good to see you, Vantas."

"You too, Ursama." Karkat had been a freshman when she was a senior. She moved up to taking college classes part time during the second half of the year, but they had talked when she was around. "What happened? You sounded frantic on the phone."

"I'll explain on my office." Bronya gestured for them to follow her, looking around them. She clearly didn't want anyone to see what was happening right now. "Just come inside, please."

The two did wordlessly follow here, but Karkat did feel his dad shove a ghost weapon into his hand. A baton, most likely with a taser, was the item, which the halfa shoved into his pocket. Guess he didn't want to take any chances.

It was a short walk into the building and into Bronya's office. Everything was still relatively new and fresh, though the smell of plastic and the foam of the jigsaw floor coverings did give the feel that people were here. The father and son could hear a chorus of children in one room, though not anywhere else. The door had been closed and they had a feeling it wasn't an accident.

"Alright, I'm going to make this quick. I'm planning on having the kids out of here so you two can conduct your investigation." Bronya plopped down into her chair, the office itself being kid friendly, though somehow professional. She put her hands in front of her as she looked the two over. "I think a ghost attacked one of my workers yesterday."

Quick and straight to the point. It certainly caught Karkat's attention.

"What makes you say that? Did your worker claim that?" Spades may be a fanatic for ghosts, but there'd been plenty of fakes in his life he had to unmask. It came with the territory of being a paranormal investigator. "I'm not saying he's lying or anything, but he could be saying it to get out of something."

"I would've thought that too. The worker in question has come up with pretty interesting excuses before." Bronya held up a DVD, waving it at the two. "However, we were doing a performance review for him and those include videotaping him during work hours."

"Isn't that illegal or something?" Karkat raised an eyebrow. He'd look over it if there really was a ghost situation going on, but he was sure that violated something.

"It was all in the contract he signed. We're protecting children's futures here and we need to make sure it isn't in the hands of someone willing to abuse it." Bronya got up to grab a television she was keeping in the back of the room, putting the DVD into a connected player. "He alright, but that wasn't what caught my attention."

The television came on with a loud rush of static, the picture changing until it showed a scene from one of the classrooms. A name came and date came up in the bottom corner, showing it was late. The name was Lanque Bombyx.

The classroom itself was populated by a few rowdy kids, mostly being followed by a scrambling figure of a teenager, who was notably too dressed up for something like this.

"_Kids, can you please calm down. Mr. Bombyx needs some time to rest!" _The pleading wasn't working as the kids continued running around, ignoring the volunteer. _"Seriously, you'll be heading out soon! We only have a few minutes to get ready."_

It seemed like a standard scene to everyone. Volunteer, way out of his head with a bunch of rowdy kids, on a deadline that he might beat. At least he seemed to be handling it okay, despite the difficulties. He did eventually get some of them in order and packed up for the day.

"_Alright, does everyone have what they came here with?"_ A chorus of yes's came along, much to the guy's delight. _"Thank goodness. Alright, let's get you all out of here. Your parents are waiting~."_

That got the kids excited, heading home seemingly welcome. Lanque watched them go with a smile, waving goodbye. As soon as the door clicked and the other volunteer got them out, it changed to an exhausted expression and he immediately decided to lounge on the tiny furniture.

"_Thank god. Late pickups are always so exhausting." _The teen rubbed his eyes, leaning onto the tiny furniture. _"The kids are nice, but can they just relax for five minutes? I don't remember having that energy."_

Nothing was said for several moments as Lanque looked around at the messy area. He sighed dramatically.

"_And I certainly remember being a lot cleaner too."_ He grumbled as he got up, grabbing things off the floor. This was second nature at this point. _"Probably rich kid brats. Spoiled rotten."_

This is when one of the children's books decided to fall down from a nearby shelf. It was weird, especially since the window's weren't even open. Lanque didn't seem to notice that fact, just looking at the book, offended.

"_Really, you too Goodnight Moon? You have to add to my workload?"_ Lanque tutted, grabbing the offending book off the floor. _"Nobody ever behaves in this place. Seriously, they let Lynera in despite being and obvious snake-"_

The rant was cut off immediately as he stepped on something. Whatever it was, it was painful enough that he immediately kicked it, sending it straight into a wall and breaking it. He cursed for several moments before eventually calming down, limping over to the broken toy.

"_Oh dammit, it's one of the handmade ones."_ Lanque looked over it with a scowl, holding the two broken pieces carefully. _"I knew they didn't pick up everything. Those lying little-"_

Before he could finish, a book flew straight at his head, nailing him in the temple. It wasn't enough force to seriously hurt him, but it did cause him to stagger in surprise. Another toy flew at him, hitting him in the back.

"_Who's there?!" _Lanque grabbed a stuffed animal, holding it in front of him protectively. _"Wanshi, if you're trying to prank me again, this isn't funny. It's only funny when it happens to someone else."_

The bookshelf tipped over completely to answer him, causing him to jump. More books flew out of the pile, hitting him as he then scrambled away. Toys began to fly at him too, which finally tipped threw the teen over the edge before he cursed up a storm and ran out the door.

Bronya turned off the tv with a grimace. "I think that should be enough, as you can see."

"I'll say." Spades figured the video wasn't faked, especially since he doubted a daycare would bother using it as advertising. "Did something like this happen before? You called me before this, so…"

"There have been some strange things going on around here." She opened a drawer, pulling out a stack of drawings. They all looked crude and were most likely from the kids who went here. "For the past several years, the kids always seem to have the same imaginary friend. We didn't care much for it since we thought it was their imagination, but it was strange how universal it was."

Karkat grabbed a drawing up, looking over it carefully. From what he could tell, it depicted a bunch of kids hanging out with each other on a grassy hill. The only weird part about it was some thin stick of green with a big hat floating over them, arms spread as the kids seemingly cheered for him.

"All the kids are drawing this?" Karkat grabbed a few more drawings. She wasn't exaggerating apparently, the scenes depicted in each one having plenty of similarities. "Looks a lot like Peter Pan, honestly."

"That's what I thought too, but none of the kids seem to know who that is. They all just imagined him up one day years back and he's stayed ever since." Bronya smoothed over a page with fondness mixed with worry. "Some things have been moved around lately and the kids attributed it to him, which is why I called earlier. He's never done something like this before."

"Maybe something agitated him. Was this place something else before it was a daycare?" Spades wracked his own memory, but it wasn't like he got out much outside of his work. "Could be a performer or something."

"I think this place was built over a theatre or something." Karkat raised an eyebrow at Bronya. "I have a feeling I'm not making that up."

"No, you're right. Casper High used to run plays at the old building before it had to be torn down. Never figured out why." Bronya shrugged. She spearheaded building this place, but that didn't mean she necessarily knew the history. "I do want to keep all of this on the low right now. Though it is nice to have an expert on this, if this place becomes known to be haunted, it will get shut down."

"We'll operate under complete secrecy, don't worry." Spades got up from the chair, eager to get to work. "We'll move forward and get ready after the kids leave. Should be done within a couple days' time."

"Thank goodness." Bronya got up from the desk too, moving towards the door. She waved at them behind her. "Make sure to keep any damage to a minimum. I want to keep this place intact."

"We'll do our best." Karkat would work hard to keep that promise, especially if this all got violent.

He just hoped Peter Pan didn't want to take anyone to Neverland.

* * *

It didn't take long for Bronya to get the kids out on a fieldtrip, giving them plenty of time to prepare. Karkat and Spades decided to check everywhere else in the building first and set up any surveillance equipment before heading into the room where Lanque had been attacked.

This gave Karkat plenty of time to test something out.

Turns out, grabbing the cancer sign necklace from the ghost bikers stash had been useful. While some of his dad's inventions didn't detect him fully, some did put him on their radar, even when he was in human form. The necklace worked pretty much the same as it would any other ghost and hid his signature completely, meaning he wasn't in danger of being found out by his dad yet.

"And done." Karkat set up the last of the sensors, breathing easy as another failed to find him. "Now that that's over with, maybe I can try and find-"

A beep from his phone interrupted his line of thought. Without thinking, he pulled it out, checking Ghostian for the messages.

GC: K4RKL3S, W3 F1N4LLY GOT 3V3RYTH1NG ON YOUR N3W "FR13ND." PL34S3 R3SPOND.

AC: :33 and there's a hell of a lot to talk about!

Karkat sighed, expecting this. At least they sounded positive from their texts.

CG: THANK GOD. WHAT DID YOU TWO FIND?

AC: :33 i said a lot, didn't i? this oberon guy is involves with some serious shit.

GC: 1 R34LLY W1SH SH3 W4S JOK1NG.

CG: CAN WE SKIP THE GAGS AND GET ON WITH THIS? I'M WITH MY DAD ON A GHOST HUNT.

GC: F1N3, P4RTY POOP3R. 1 LOOK3D 1NTO 4 LOT OF MY MOM'S C4S3S 4ND 1T LOOKS L1K3 SKULK3R 1SN'T TH3 ONLY SH4DY GUY H3'S WORK3D W1TH H3R3.

AC: :33 he's in a lot messed up stuff that's happened. mostly involving looking fur powerful ghostly artifacts here.

CG: ANYTHING SPECIFIC?

AC: :33 theft, assault, technical grave robbing, and other purtty serious stuff.

GC: 4ND H3'S ONLY WORK3D THROUGH OTH3R P3OPL3. 4 LOT OF TH3S3 TH1NGS W3R3 DON3 BY "CONTR4CTORS" 1N S34RCH OF TH1NGS W1TH1N TH3 1NF1N1T3 R34LMS, 4LL UND3R 4 S1NGL3 4L14S.

GC: DU4LSC4R.

CG: DUALSCAR?

CG: ARE YOU SAYING THE GUY DECIDES TO DO SO MUCH SHADY SHIT UNDER THE RADAR BY HIRING OTHER PEOPLE, ONLY TO GIVE HIMSELF THE MOST SUPERVILLAIN SOUNDING NAME HE COULD FIND?

Karkat figured the news wouldn't be great exactly, but he wasn't really expecting it to be this bad. The guy had a literal crime name and made sure to hide any involvement like any white-collar criminal would.

CG: THAT ASIDE, ANY IDEA WHY HE'S DOING THAT? AND WHEN HE STARTED?

GC: 1 C4N ONLY S4Y H3'S B33N DO1NG TH1S FOR 4 F3W Y34RS NOW. 4S FOR WHY, 1 DON'T H4V3 4 FUCK1NG CLU3.

AC: :33 we don't even kmeow how he's getting into the infinite realms by himself or finding people that can. if he can do that without a portal like your dad, what else can he do?

That was an excellent question. Nothing about Oberon made any sense, especially why he was doing any of this. Maybe he was a lot like those random villains on tv that just wanted power, but that couldn't be it. Why not take him out now since Karkat could easily become a threat later if left to his own devices?

GC: 4S YOUR FR13ND, 1 SUGG3ST NOT FUCK1NG W1TH H1M JUST Y3T. 3V3N 1F 3V3RYTH1NG 3LS3 4BOUT M3 1S SCR34M1NG TO T4K3 TH1S GUY DOWN, 1 DON'T TH1NK W3'R3 R34DY TO T4K3 H1M ON.

AC: :33 think of it like you're stalking your pray! we just n33d to kmeow more about him befure we can strike.

CG: I'LL KEEP THAT IN MIND. THANKS FOR THE UPDATE, BUT I NEED TO GET BACK TO THE GHOST HUNT.

AC: :33 happy hunting!

GC: DON'T D13!

Karkat turned off the phone with a grimace, grabbing a portable sensor as he walked around the room. He did his rounds as he mulled over the information from the girls.

On one hand, his suspicions were now doubly confirmed about Oberon and it was probably in his best interests to stay away. He was obviously pulling some type of shit and even almost orchestrated their first meeting until Skulker turned up to ruin it. He wasn't afraid of getting others hurt, so that makes him a danger to every human in Amity Park.

On the other, he's also the only person in the entire _world_ that would understand what he's going through. He went through an accident of his own and not only survived it, but even made it work with him, even if it was a bit shady. Eridan didn't seem a bad guy either, and if Karkat turned on Oberon, that means making him a possible enemy too.

Shit just really liked to be complicated, didn't it? He'd wait it out for now. If Oberon turned into a threat to anyone that didn't deserve it, he'd be taken down like any other ghost. If not, he'll leave him alone and figure out how to possibly make him stop.

Hopefully, he'd have the second option. He really hoped that it was on the table.

Karkat's musings did eventually stop, though, as soon as he tried stepping outside into the hallway. He almost ran into what looked like a punk nightmare, causing them to back up out of fright.

"Jesus fuck!" Karkat almost reached for the weapon his dad gave him before noticing who it was and relaxing. "Daraya? You work here?"

"Oh. Hey Vantas." Daraya Jonjet, one of the goths from school, waved at him halfheartedly. She didn't look exactly happy about seeing him either, but she was mostly as apathetic as ever. "Haven't seen you since your pranked some of the other goths."

"Yeah. I'd apologize for that, but that was mostly Aradia's idea." Karkat raised an eyebrow at the girl, putting on the sensor again. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm doing some community service because of something that happened at the mall." She said it quick, as if to brush it off. "Didn't expect to see you here either. Taking over the family business?"

In more ways than she would ever know. Karkat rolled his eyes at the question. "Just helping him out today. Why are you still here?"

"Not important." Daraya looked away suspiciously and Karkat could've swore an actual bead of sweat formed on her brow. "You haven't heard anything weird lately, right? Just asking."

Karkat frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Shouldn't I be asking you that-"

The sound of something falling over down the hallway made the conversation come to a dead stop. The two teens looked down to see a door down the hallway was open wide enough to get a peek inside.

The halfa frowned. He didn't sense anything just yet, but that didn't mean his ghost sense was perfect. He was already down the hallway before Jonjet could ask him what he was doing.

Reaching the door and opening it, he recognized it as the place Lanque was attacked in. The place had been cleaned up since it happened, almost like it hadn't been touched.

"Hey, the hell are you doing?" Daraya looked inside too, raising an eyebrow. "Did Bronya actually give you permission to investigate this place? Or are you just doing this for fun?"

"She called my dad this morning." Karkat raised a hand to quiet her. His darted around the room, checking to see anything amiss. He noticed a cabinet door open slightly to one side of the room. "Hold on."

Karkat ignored anymore questions as he moved closer to the cabinet, trying to keep his steps slow. His ghost sense still wasn't going off, nor was the sensor, but he remained cautious as he moved. Reaching a handout to the handle, he slowly opened it…

…and a tiny ball zoomed out, revealing itself to be a tiny child.

"I win hide and seek!" The kid looked ready to do a little victory dance before noticing a very confused Karkat looking down at her. "Wait, who are you?"

"Wanshi!" Daraya scrambled to grab up the tiny girl, looking worried and furious. "Have you been in here the entire time?! We told everyone this place was off limits for today."

"I was trying to help you guys with the little ones. I suggest a game of hide and seek and might've gotten a little competitive." The girl didn't seem to mind being held up, despite being around eleven. Wanshi seemed annoyed that the teen was even questioning her logic. "I won, by the way."

"Wait a minute, you lost a kid?" Karkat almost barked out a laugh at the irony of it. "Jeez, maybe you aren't cut out for this job."

"Oh shut up, Vantas. Go look for your ghosts." Daraya looked over at Wanshi again, eyes narrowing. "Do you how much trouble you caused? Bronya's been worried sick!"

"She is?" The girl looked surprised to hear that, putting her hands to her mouth. It looked like her eyes were about to water. "I didn't mean to! I was just playing a game!"

Karkat rolled his eyes, wondering if he should intervene. He turned around at first, weighing his options, looking at the sensor briefly. He sighed, his mouth tasting of smoke…

…Fuck.

Daraya had been making her way towards the door before it decided to close on its own. It wasn't with a slam, though it was loud enough to get everyone in the room to stop and stare at it. Wanshi was the only one to lighten up and wave at whatever closed it.

"Hi, Pupa! How've you been?" Wanshi didn't seem to mind not leaving, though she looked confused. "Is something wrong?"

Pupa? Is that what this ghost called himself? Karkat would've felt sorry for it if it weren't for the fact he couldn't see it or didn't know how to fight it with those two here.

"Wanshi, who are you talking to?" Daraya looked around, trying to justify what closed the door. She even peeked at Karkat for answers. "What's going on here?"

"Relax, it's nothing bad." Wanshi continued to look directly at nothing, a confused look coming over her features. "There's no one else to play that, Pupa. Are you sure?" Another beat of silence overtook the room before she shrugged, putting her hands over her eyes. "Okay. One, two, three…"

The ghost took this as its cue to completely go apeshit.

It took the easy route, throwing shit at Daraya since her hand were full. The hits were awfully precise, as if not to hurt the kid. To Jonjet's credit, she wasn't allowing it and did her best to doge them despite the clear shock on her face.

Karkat didn't even think about it when he grabbed her. Looking over to the closet, he pushed her over there.

"Get inside." He felt a lull in the action as the ghost seemed confused by his actions. He felt a book hit his shoulder. "Don't get out unless I tell you too."

Daraya didn't have any chance to argue against it as he closed the door. He turned and had to move to the side as a goddamn action figure flew at his head. Karkat growled as he tried to find out where it was all coming from.

Blocks were thrown at him, causing him to dodge to the side, answered with a swing of the electrified baton. A tricycle was thrown next, causing Karkat to go intangible so it wouldn't hit him. The action seemed to surprise the ghost long enough for him to throw an ectoblast at his guessed direction.

The blast failed to hit, lightly burning a shelf in the back. Various other toys were sent his way in response, a lot more panicked. Karkat simply let them go through him, sending a larger arc of ecto energy that wouldn't damage anything else. None of it hit.

The ghost decided to change tactics then, as something invisible then hit Karkat in the face. It was a relatively weak punch, but it surprised him enough to knock him back a little. The halfa made doubly sure to jump back, to avoid a second.

"This isn't working." Karkat cursed to himself. A few more toys flew his way, hitting the closet door. He heard a shout. "Gotta change tactics. Might as well test something out."

Karkat stopped dodging, closing his eyes, and holding the sensor out. He tried pushing his senses outward, focusing mainly on the feeling he would get whenever a ghost came close. The sensor beeped helplessly, not able to focus directly on the ghost.

Something in his chest burned and Karkat could feel it wriggle toward his right. When it suddenly flared up, Karkat opened his eyes, swing the electrified baton instinctively.

A connection was made as baton hit and started electrifying a floating body. Karkat could've swore he heard a yelp as the thing backed up, causing him to grab it before it could leave. A flicker of the lights and Karkat briefly saw what looked like a boy his age floating there, wearing a bright green outfit, before it desperately kicked him in the stomach, throwing him back.

The halfa sputtered out a breath as the sensor soon died, the presence having most likely left. That last one would leave a bruise, that was for certain. He almost didn't register a door being swung open, the charge of an ectogun echoing.

"Alright, what the hell is going on in here?!" Spades had the decency to look around first before noticing his son on the ground. He almost dropped the gun before running over to him. "Kid! Holy shit, what happened to you?"

"Ghost tried to attack a volunteer. Fought it off." Karkat was able to get to his feet easily, not really needing his dads help. Not the worst fight he's ever gotten into. "I'm not hurt, but I got a few swing in at him."

"Thank god." Spades brushed off the dust from Karkat, looking around the room. "Looks like you two did a number on this place. Did ya' get a good look at the damn thing?"

Karkat blinked at that, looking at where he first and last saw the ghost. He narrowed his eyes and sighed deeply before answering his dad.

"I think I had my ass handed to me by Peter Pan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, the best thing about writing fanfiction (or anything really) is that I can write lines like that. That's usually the best part.
> 
> Also, for any that reads my one shot series for this fic, feel free to send me a few requests on what you'd like to see as drabbles. I can't guarantee how fast I'll get to them, but it's fun to get ideas from you guys and interact with people who like my writing.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next chapter!


	24. Phantom Menace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Finally got this chapter out. It wasn't that much of a struggle, but the new job is finally kicking in and things are going good right now. It's online, though, so hours are random depending on things. However, other than that, there's nothing really new to report!
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you all at the end of the chapter.

**Trigger warning: Death mention. Nothing graphic, but still a mention.**

Karkat didn't exactly see a lot of silver linings after his battle with that Peter Pan wannabe, but there were a couple of things to be happy about. One, Spades was able to legitimately lock the place down after they got testimony from Jonjet about what happened to convince Bronya to do so. The second was that maybe this could get wrapped up faster since this ghost didn't seem so powerful.

The only problem was that now he needed to find out how fight a ghost he couldn't even _see._

"Are you the ghost wasn't just using invisibility or something and you couldn't disrupt it?" Aradia was helping him go through some of his dad's equipment while Spades investigated the site. Anything a little higher grade than the usual ghost detector would have to do. "It doesn't make sense how they can just appear to only one person."

"They've been doing it for a while. It's probably a unique ghost power related to them." Karkat shifted put away a prototype carefully. "Somehow they can hide themselves from anyone that isn't a little kid. Which, I'm not going to lie, is a little bit creepy."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think it's a pedophile ghost. Haven't found anything like that so far." Sollux was put on research duty again, going through some files. "Everyone that's worked at the daycare, past and present, is completely clean. Ursama runs a tight ship."

"Thank fucking god. I'd probably let dad dissect them if that turned out to be the case." Karkat was not even remotely joking when he said this. He put away another box before giving Sollux a curious look. "Maybe look some stuff on that theatre that used to be there. You'll probably find better results."

"Amity Park used to have a theatre?" Aradia looked like the very concept wasn't possible. "Jeez, why'd they tear it down?"

"Give me a minute." Sollux typed in a new Google search, hitting the enter key with a flourish. He stopped to read the first few results before clicking something. "I think I may have something here."

"Lay it on us." Karkat opened another box as he said that, keeping his ear open.

Sollux cleared his throat before reading a part of an article out loud.

_Charity Play for Handicapped Children Ends in Tragedy._

_A rendition of the classic play Peter Pan by charity _ _ **Wheeling Around** _ _ ended with one teenage boy being lost forever._

_16-year-old Tavros Nitram, star of the show and organizer of the event, died today after a malfunction occurred during a flying scene at the end of the play. While the owners of the theatre deny any knowledge of faulty equipment, it was found that the equipment used to raise Nitram off the ground had significant wear and tear and resulted in the fall that broke the boys' neck._

_It was said Nitram was alive for about three minutes before he died of asphyxiation, unable to breath due to a broken neck and a severe head wound. Charges have not been filed against the owners of the theatre, though an investigation is currently underway._

_Nitram allegedly wanted to conduct the play in order to show children like him that even if they couldn't walk, that still didn't mean they couldn't shoot for the moon, the second star to the right, and straight on till morning…_

Sollux stopped, sighing deeply. "Why can't we get a happy ghost story for once."

"Ghost don't form after dying a happy death Sollux." Aradia's mood certainly dropped after hearing that story too, but they were talking about ghosts. You don't become one without some form of tragedy following behind you. "At least we have a name now. Died not much younger than us too."

"That kinda explains why he hasn't hurt the kids either, I guess." Karkat sighed, crouching down, and holding onto his head. "Now I feel bad that I might have to kick this guy's ass now. Crippled, died, became a ghost, and then getting shoved into the Ghost Zone is a hell of a lot."

"If it makes you feel any better, he didn't die in front of the kids watching the play." Sollux winced at the groan that came from Karkat. "Maybe we can talk this one down too. He's probably just overreacting to something."

"That's not the usual pattern for us though." Aradia counted on her fingers their usual process. "Usually we find out a problem is happening, find the ghost responsible, fight it twice, and then either defeat them or resolve the misunderstanding. That's how the process goes."

"Dear god, that really is the process. Why the fuck is there a process?" Karkat just wanted to go to bed. Forget about ghost crap for a while and maybe get some rest. "If god actually exists, he must hate us."

"It is pretty episodic." Sollux closed his laptop with a grimace. "So, you gonna call Ampora to help out again? Keep building trust with that guy and his supervillain dad?"

"Maybe. I don't think you've even met each other yet." Karkat sighed. This was a topic he could handle. "You'll get a read off him too. I think he's good, but I wouldn't mind a second opinion."

Karkat dialed up the number before they could change their minds. He put the phone on speaker, holding it up so his friends could hear. It took two rings for Eridan to pick up.

"_Hello?"_ Eridan almost sounded surprised at the call, as if he hadn't expected it. _"Who's calling?"_

"The queen of England." Karkat rolled his eyes before answering truthfully. "It's me. I'm calling about another ghost thing happening in town."

"_Ah, hey Kar."_ Eridan took a minute to actually think about the other boy said before replying. _"Another ghost attack? Jeez, this place really does sound infested."_

"Tell me about it." Karkat scoffed. He blamed the portal, but he was starting to wonder if other things were coming at play here. Dualscar perhaps? Or something else? "This one's at least native to here. I don't think he's dangerous and I've got some info on him already, but I think it's about time you met the other hunters working with me."

"_You work with other hunters?"_ Karkat almost facepalmed as he realized he never mentioned the other two before. He could already hear the jeers they'd use on him later. _"Oh, right. You said other people were there during your…"_

"Yeah." Karkat didn't want to talk about The Accident right now. Not even remotely the time. "I can text you where and when if you want to come along."

"_I'd be happy too. It'd be nice to actually exercise my ghost powers some more."_ It sounded like there was a but to this. _"But that might be difficult. I promised to meet up with Fef today and I don't think I can cancel that."_

"Shit. Sorry to hear that." Karkat figured that would be a possibility. "Can't really tip her off I guess."

"_Actually, maybe we can, I don't know, bring her along?"_ Eridan threw the suggestion out there, causing Karkat to pause. Eridan must've took it as a no and tried pushing forward. _"Look, she's just been asking about you and it seems like she wants to get to know you. Plus, she hasn't made as many friends yet and knowing how to fight a ghost might help her if this keeps happening."_

Karkat frowned deeply, considering his options. He didn't exactly want to bring a new person into this, especially if they were wrong about this ghost not being too threatening, or even being Tavros at all. That wasn't even including that he'd have to keep ghost powers to a minimum.

Then again, having another hand would tip a fight into their favor if Tavros got hostile. Not to mention if the ghost problem kept getting worse, it'd be one less person he'd need to worry about being defenseless.

Karkat breathed out of his nose before answering. "Does she know how to fight?"

"_She's taken some self-defense classes before. Just as long you give her a weapon, she'd be fine." _It sounded like Eridan was trying to convince himself of this as well. _"I don't exactly want to bring her to, but she'd start asking questions if I didn't bring her along and follow me anyway. I think the whole ghost stuff has scared her a little."_

"Well, call her then. If you can vouch for her, I believe you." Karkat mentally thought over what Feferi could even use, figuring there'd be something. "Just make it on time. I don't want my dad getting suspicious."

"_Alright, I'll call her right now. See ya then."_

Eridan said his goodbyes and hung up soon after, Karkat typing up the address and sending it. The halfa sighed and turned to his friends, who only gave him questioning looks.

"Alright," Karkat went back to the boxes. "Let's get ready for tonight. Let's look for some heat vision goggles, those might work for this."

The two only nodded, though they did give some questioning glances towards each other before getting back to it.

* * *

It took a few good hours for Spades to clear the area and check everything out before leaving, though it gave the three plenty of time to prepare for later. When the man went to bed after an admittedly exhausting day, they set out to get to work.

They were able to sneak out their usual weapons, along with the few extra they'd need for Eridan and Feferi. Again, they weren't sure whether to bring the other girl along until they figured it would look weird to cancel now, especially since they might need the extra manpower.

It didn't take long to get to the daycare, nor was it difficult to find a way in. Karkat's intangibility and the fact Bronya allowed the security system to be turned off until the haunting was over made it a breeze to sneak in. They were only staying outside so they could meet up with the last two.

It wasn't hard to spot them either. Apparently, Feferi drove a pink Volkswagen Beetle that stood out very proudly within the dark night. The only reason they even knew the name of car was that it was that iconic, and it weirdly fit the girl.

Eridan was the first to get out, making his normally dour appearance somehow jarringly funny compared to the Bug. That comparison got even worse when Feferi came out and started heading out with them.

"Alright, you know everything I told you about his situation. Play along." Karkat whispered to the Aradia and Sollux before the other two got into earshot. He turned around, waving them down with a somewhat awkward smile. "Hey, good to see you two made it. Wish it were under better circumstances."

"I'm not going to lie; I didn't think I'd see you for a ghost hunt when meeting up." Feferi waved at Aradia and Sollux with a smile, though made sure to keep her eyes on the building afterward. "Any reason why we're not letting your dad handle this one?"

"Spades really doesn't like ghosts." Sollux shrugged at the confused look sent his way. "You've seen his eye, right? The one that was scratched out?"

"A ghost supposedly scratched it out of something. He claimed that it happened to him when he was a kid." Aradia stopped, staring off into space as she calculated. "Or that actually did happen. He did prove that they exist, so that might be a thing."

"Did some research too. This ghost might not be as hostile as we think it is." Karkat handed the two of them some a paper with some of the stuff they found. It wasn't filled with the happiest stuff, but it was accurate at least. "Plus, even if we're wrong, it's at least not attacking the kids. It's only attacked teenagers or adults so far."

"Jesus, this is actually pretty morbid." Eridan must've got to the part about the guys death. "Are you sure this one is going to be friendly? Dying like that wouldn't exactly create a friendly ghost."

"If they aren't or if we're wrong about who this is, we still have ghost weapons." Karkat gave them the ectoguns next, along with some ghost tasers. "This should be enough as is. We aren't actually going to antagonize him, but that doesn't mean he won't try to antagonize us."

"Are we going in teams then?" Feferi still looked a little weirded out by the entire situation, but the fact she had a literal laser gun in her hand calmed her down slightly. She resisted to turn the piece of equipment on in case she misfired. "How are we dividing it? I mean, it's fine, but I think I want to have at least one person who knows what they're doing with me."

"We draw straws!" Aradia grabbed a small cup from her backpack, waving it around to get people to move to her. "There's two red and three blue straws. Pick yours out and that's what team you're on."

"I thought we vetoed this plan." Sollux still reluctantly picked out his straw, knowing that arguing with Aradia would solve nothing. He had blue. "Alright, who's with me?"

"I am." Eridan waved around his blue straw while Karkat raised his own. "Huh, looks like we're going gender wise. Didn't really expect that."

"Neither did I." Karkat shrugged, pocketing the straw before heading on over to the building. "Alright, let's get this over with. Stay on high alert, people, we're going ghost hunting."

"Yeah!" The other four followed behind, Aradia excited about doing this, while Sollux just looked indifferent. Eridan and Feferi hung back a bit, watching the other three move ahead.

"You picked out some weird friends to hang out." Feferi didn't seem to disapprove. It was more a general observation.

"You can say that again." Eridan kept a tight lip as they went inside, the darkness of the daycare overtaking them.

* * *

Aradia didn't exactly hang out with a lot of people outside of her friends. The brief amount of time with the goths was fun, but she didn't really count that since she was in a pretty bad place. She did talk to people outside of Karkat and Sollux, but again, she wasn't that close to other people.

Feferi seemed okay to hang out with. A little quiet as she kept a flashlight trained on every weird noise, as if expecting something to happen. It was a good way of going about this, though she doubted Feferi knew that.

"So," Aradia did her best to summon any social skills she had to actually talk to her. It's been a while thanks to the ghost stuff. "How are you handling the town? Have to admit, must've been a rough move after just deciding to stay here."

It was softball stuff, but it brightened the mood. Feferi thought it over carefully before answering.

"It's been pretty interesting so far, even with all the controversy and stuff." Feferi shrugged. It was honest, as far as Aradia could tell. "Mom's trying to find any leftover property and see what she can invest in this place. She thinks after things die down, there might be a lot of activity around here."

Aradia frowned but nodded along. She would've liked the town to stay the same, but she figured that wouldn't be the case after the presentation decidedly rocked the world's foundation. "Something tells me she'll be right about that. I certainly expect a lot more government guys running around."

"Hopefully not. Military bases and all that are apparently really bad for business." Feferi kept looking around before sighing a little. "Can I ask you something and you'll answer me honestly?"

"Depends on the question." Aradia didn't miss a beat, expecting this. "Fire away, though."

"Is this some kind of hazing ritual?" Aradia barked a laugh at that, causing Feferi to raise an eyebrow. "It's a valid question! I mean, I've only met you guys once, Karkat's apparently hung out with Eridan, so I don't know why you guys brought us here."

"Oh, it's not a hazing ritual. Trust me, you'd know if it was." Aradia moved a few books out of the way with her foot before moving towards a closet. "Karkat just didn't want a possibly misunderstood ghost get on a dissection table. He figured we'd need backup for this just in case and figured you'd two would want to get in on the local "culture." You can blame his dad for thinking like that."

"I guess that's nice of him." Feferi did laugh a little, the explanation just weird enough to be convincing. "Honestly, even if it was some kind of hazing thing, this might be good for Eridan. He hasn't exactly had a lot of friends outside of me."

"Really? I would've thought he had at least a few." Aradia decided to mine this little nugget of information more, see if there was a vein. "I'm guessing he isn't exactly the friendly type."

"Kind of. Don't get me wrong, Eridan's a good guy," Feferi thought over her next words carefully, picking up a blanket and putting it to the side. "But he can be pretty rude. He's kind of always been that way, honestly. I think it's because of…"

Aradia raised an eyebrow as the other girl trailed off. "Because of what?"

Feferi snapped out of it, shaking her head. "Nothing I can say. At least, nothing I can say _for_ him, y'know?"

Aradia only nodded at that, even though she could already take a guess at what she was talking about. Maybe his mom having to be committed probably screwed him up a little. Then again, there's the matter of his dad…

"His dad is a little bit weird, though." Feferi seemingly got over her own funk, getting back to work. "Eridan seems to like him and does whatever he says, but I don't know. I always got a weird vibe from him growing up."

Aradia chuckled, getting back to work too. She mentally catalogued that bit of information to the back of her mind. "You and me both."

"Thank god, I thought I wasn't the only one there." Feferi took a moment listen, as if expecting something. "I don't hear Eridan yelling at anything just yet. Must mean those three are getting along."

"As long as Sollux doesn't annoy him too much, he might have a couple more friends tonight." Aradia stopped before shaking her head. "If he likes Sollux's sense of humor."

* * *

Eridan, despite all hopes otherwise, did not like Sollux's sense of humor.

Karkat felt his eye twitch as Sollux kept annoying Eridan with everything he had, despite the fact he'd sent several glares his way to make him stop. Eridan himself wasn't making things much better, trying, and somewhat failing in making comebacks.

Karkat had planned this out to make sure things went smoothly, but he forgot one glaring issue; he was friends with two sarcastic assholes, of which Sollux was king.

"So, what you're saying is that you're a simp." Eridan had made the mistake of accidentally admitting to liking Feferi a bit and Sollux was rolling with it. "Taking a real long time to admit anything, aren't you?"

"I am not a fucking simp. I don't have to pay to hang out with Feferi." Eridan looked ready to strangle Sollux at this point, and honestly, Karkat couldn't blame him. "I'm not an incel either, before you start with that. I mean, I was kind of one when I was thirteen, but I got over it."

"Sollux, for fucks sake, I will open fire if you don't stop." Karkat rubbed his hand down his face, groaning softly. "Besides, you aren't one to talk. Maybe try something first before you start roasting someone else."

"…Just slaughtering me on main, aren't you KK?" Sollux rolled his eyes, checking the sensors again. "Anything from you two yet? I haven't got shit."

"Nothing. You would've smelled smoke by now if you did." Karkat caught Eridan's confused look and simply shrugged. "I breathe smoke out whenever a ghost is nearby. Kinda why I started coughing when you and your dad showed up."

"Oh, okay." Eridan seemed to relax at that, frowning a little. "Mine isn't really that obvious. My dad and I's eyes glow whenever a ghost shows up around us. Mines weaker, but still pretty obvious when you're looking for it."

"So, if you get the anime glasses effect, we'll start shooting?" Sollux joked before a thoughtful look passed over his face. "Wait, you said that your element power is light, right? Is that why your eyes glow like that."

Eridan looked ready to say something sarcastic back, but the question actually made him think for a second. "That isn't far from the truth, actually. I guess that wouldn't be too farfetched."

"So either I might have fire powers or smoke powers. Like that one guy from those Infamous games." Karkat personally didn't want either of those, but he figured fire powers could be cool. He could try to learn some moves from Avatar to match up with them if he could. "At least that's something to look forward too."

"Who says you have to?" Sollux raised an eyebrow at the admission. An uncomfortable look was on his face in seconds. "We don't even know if your powers are permanent yet. Maybe it could be reversed too."

"Dude, it's been over a month. These powers aren't going away on their own." Despite what he'd previously hoped. Karkat sighed deeply at the face his friend his making. "And if there was a way to reverse, we would've found it by now. Nothing can be done about it."

"Why would you want to reverse it?" Eridan sounded confused, looking at the two like they were nuts. "Isn't having powers a good thing? I mean, most people will never know how to fly or go through walls."

"Yeah, but he didn't exactly _ask_ for them." Sollux eyes narrowed at the other boy, growling a little. "Not everyone's born with it. He had to _fucking die_ to get them."

"I get that!" Eridan put his arms into the air before letting them fall flat, stopping in the hallway. "I'm just saying, there's a lot of advantages hear. It's a cool thing and I don't get why anybody would want to give that up."

"Okay, can you please stop talking like I'm not here." Karkat was ready to push the two away from each other if things got ugly but stopped when he felt some smoke pass through his lips again. He sighed deeply before letting his radar guide him. "Besides, the ghosts here. Focus up."

Karkat was able to see Eridan's eyes literally and figuratively light up before he turned to move forward. They actually did do the anime glasses thing, which would've been funny if it wasn't for the timing of it. Sollux texted someone, most likely Aradia to come with them, before joining them.

Karkat found himself standing before the door to the room from earlier that day, cursing under his breath. Of course it was in there, where else would it be? Could've just walked into here first thing and it would've ended a lot faster. He opened it up slowly, grabbing one of the ecto laced knives.

He was graced with the sight of a bunch of toys floating in the air, a set of books propped up into a fake stage. Some of the toys were moving around on said stage, while other hung off to the sides, as if waiting for a cue. The ones that were moving around, though, moved around in little dances, like they were talking.

Karkat gulped to himself, remembering the article from earlier. He had an idea what this was acting out.

"Jesus Christ." The boys almost jumped, not having heard Aradia arrive. "This is just sad."

"What? What's going on?" Feferi asked before being given enough room to see it. She wilted immediately, backing up from the scene. "This just became a little too much."

"Yeah. Maybe we should just head out?" Eridan had been gearing up for a fight, but this was really just morbid. "I'm not saying that because this is scary, but, well, y'know."

"We can't really leave this guy here alone, though. He's attacking the caretakers." Sollux shrugged, as deeply uncomfortable as everyone else, though trying to remain stoic. "It's with toys, sure, but letting him run around isn't an option."

Karkat debated both sides of this, watching as a green action figure rose slowly away from the other people on the makeshift stage. He watched it rise higher and higher before coming to a decision, walking in before anyone could stop him, clearing his throat.

"Excuse me." Karkat breathed out slowly, hands clenched, knives sheathed. "But we need to talk."

The intrusion caused the ghost to lose control of the objects, dropping them onto the floor. There was a pregnant pause before one of them, a plastic firetruck, flew straight at his head.

Karkat cursed under his breath, dodging effortlessly. He motioned for the others to stand back as he did so, though to keep their weapons out.

"I'm going to take a guess and say that I'm talking to Tavros Nitram?" Karkat received a children's book series moving straight at him as a yes, rolling to the side. "Okay, okay, you don't need to be rude. Just need some confirmation."

He didn't bother taking his weapons out or use his powers. Not only was Feferi here, but he had to make a point. Karkat heard the whine of the windowpanes, as if the air in the room was slowly growing in pressure. A wind was flowing around the room, almost causing an outright cyclone.

"Look, I don't necessarily know what you want from this place," Karkat ducked as a horde of action figures tried to tackle him down, jumping over some of Hot Wheels that drove towards him. "But I'm going to need you stop. Attacking people isn't exactly the best way to solve whatever you want done here."

Karkat swore again as a lull in the throwing started, moving to the side as he _something_ move past him. He swiped at it with his leg, causing the ghost to hit the shelf with a loud bang. He moved back before the ghost could think to retaliate.

"As I said. The only reason I'm not shooting you is because you aren't going after the kids. Why is that?" Karkat was assaulted by one of the cubby's this time, barely this time. "I can't help you if you don't say anything, Nitram. That's not how communicating works."

More toys. The harder ones too. Karkat always did wonder why his dad always said that everything was a weapon. Daycares were armed to the teeth if this was any indication.

He heard a some shot from ecto-guns go off, causing him to take a quick look. Some of the others were shooting things down before they could get to him, which made this a little bit easier. He still had to dodge occasionally but was able to take the occasional breather.

"Seriously. Just stop and listen. This'll go a lot easier if you just cooperate." His voice was starting to form in a low growl, and he had a feeling if this kept going, he was going to use his powers. Feferi's sanity be damned, if this ghost aimed to be a threat, he'd make sure to treat it like one. "I'm not going to give you another warning."

There was another lull in the throwing and Karkat took it as a sign. Instead of moving to the side, he let the ghost try and tackle him. As soon he felt contact, he grabbed at the invisible arm, twisting it hard before throwing the ghost into the wall. It was probably too much, but he kept it up, throwing a punch low enough that he was confident he would hit something.

The ghost gave a little at that, though attempted to get out of his grip. Karkat responded to that by sweeping his leg again, knocking the ghost's legs out from under it. Before it could recover, he grabbed one of the knifes, using an elbow to pin the ghost by the neck, and embedded the knife near it.

The ghost stilled instantly at that. The struggling stopped and the wind that had been present followed with it, causing everything to go still.

"You're going to behave now?" Karkat said evenly, hoping dearly that the ghost wouldn't remember how to go intangible. He could feel it nod hesitantly. "Good. Now show yourself. I'd rather talk to something that has a face."

The ghost didn't comply for a few seconds, but Karkat felt a sigh emanate from it. There was a flicker and Karkat could finally see what he'd been fighting this whole time.

It was Tavros Nitram after all. There hadn't been a photo in the article, though the face that couldn't be older than his was a dead giveaway. Short hair cut into a small, reddish mohawk, wide eyes completely colored in chocolate brown, and darkened skin dotted his features. He was wearing the classic tights of a theatre kid, all green and completed by the regular cap Peter Pan was usually seen wearing.

It wasn't much of a surprise. It was depressing, though.

"Good." Karkat only nodded. He jerked his head to indicate the others could get in. He heard them move around, as if to surround the two of them. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. I'm hoping this is just a misunderstanding and maybe we can clear this all up. Understood?"

"Yes." Tavros nodded quickly, trying not to flinch as he heard the ectoguns power up. "Okay. I'll tell you anything you want."

"Why are you haunting this place?" Karkat let off the pressure a bit, but not enough to let the guy go. "I already know you died in the theatre. You don't need to talk about that, but I do want to know why you stuck around."

Tavros actually relaxed after being told that he didn't need to talk about his death. "I didn't really want to leave. I hung out here until the theatre was torn down and kept staying until they built this place."

"Why couldn't see you before?" Aradia winced as the ghost jumped at the sound of her voice. "Ghost can turn invisible, sure, but you can be seen by kids while remaining invisible to adults. Why?"

"I don't know." Tavros certainly had that wide-eyed look that showed honesty. He had a stutter too that continued getting worse. "When they finally started this place up, some of the kids could just see me, even when the workers couldn't. I learned how to turn it off and on, but I didn't really bother since I figured it would make things worse."

So it was just a special power of his. Good to know.

"Why are you attacking the workers here? They haven't done anything that's been recorded." Sollux didn't ease up on aiming his weapon one bit. "Is there something going on here we don't know about?"

"Look, I may have been mixing some signals there." Tavros raised his arms up, only receiving ectoguns pointed at him and tighter hold in response. "Everything's been tense lately and those people seemed pretty mean to the kids, I might have overreacted-"

"Quiet." Eridan cut in harshly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Blubbering ain't getting you anywhere. Calm down."

"Eridan, that's not how you calm someone down." Feferi lightly slapped her friends' shoulder before looking towards Tavros with a nervous, though comforting smile. "Please continue."

The ghost gulped, trying to think straight before letting out a breath he was holding. "Okay. Sorry. Just hard to speak with a knife near my throat. I think you'd understand that."

Karkat hummed before taking the knife away. It was still in his hand and Karkat kept him pinned. Due to his behavior before, he hadn't earned that trust yet.

"Thanks. That really helps." No one was sure if that was sincere or sarcastic. "I really am sorry about all this. I just…"

"Slow down and think." Aradia said it slowly herself, as if to get him into the mindset. "Talk slowly and let it out."

Tavros took a deep breath again. He opened his mouth and then closed it before opening it once more.

"I've worked in places like this before. _Before_ before." They didn't have to ask what that meant. "More in the places that help handicapped kids. Not a lot of them did background checks and when things got tense in the community, bad things happened."

Karkat actually did let of a bit of pressure, as if to let the air out of a balloon. He thought back to the presentation. How protesters lined up outside his house nowadays and he had to go invisible and intangible to get here.

"…And everyone, and I mean _everyone_ here has been acting weird. Even that Bronya lady at the front office is acting weird." Tavros was rambling now, waving his arms a little. "I'm _pretty_ sure that first guy I threw stuff at had alcohol on his breath, and I heard the Daraya girl is doing this because of a legal thing, and _that's _never a good sign. I just wanted to make sure the kids were safe and-"

"Stop." Karkat sheathed the knife, raising his now empty hand to shut him up. "We get it. I'm going to let you go now and I'm going to ask you not to run."

The halfa didn't wait for a response, moving and letting the ghost have some room. The ghost was relieved to say the least. Karkat pointed at the door.

"Tavros and I are going to negotiate here. If you guys would wait outside." Karkat heard some hesitant footsteps that moved barely from their original position. "Faster please."

They actually did move this time, moving towards the door awkwardly. He could see Eridan give Tavros the universal "I'm watching you" gesture before heading out the door. Sollux just rolled his eyes and followed behind him.

"So, how was that for your first ghost hunt?" Aradia slapped Feferi on the back good naturedly. "Again, it wasn't a hazing ritual. But it was a fun one, right?"

"It was the most terrifying thing I've been a part of. Of course it was fun." Karkat stifled a laugh as Feferi said that. She was the last to leave, giving an awkward look behind her, a small smile towards Karkat. "Looks like you might be fun to hang out with."

That comment kind of mystified him. He decided to categorize that for later.

"I'm going to start by saying this; you have made a terrible first impression." The halfa paid no mind to the wilting of the ghost in front of him. "You've attacked two people out of fear-based reasons, which I can only excuse as being part of your obsession. You've also attacked _me_, even when I came in here simply asking if you wanted to talk. There's also the matter that you're haunting a place with kids, where your attacks could've seriously hurt them."

Tavros only nodded along, barely looking up at the halfa in front of him. He didn't disagree that he went a little overboard and may have caused too much attention to fall onto himself.

"…however, I am willing to give you another chance here." Karkat raised a hand before Tavros could speak. "It has restrictions. I get why you're concerned, but you can't do this half cocked anymore. You almost got caught by a ghost hunter, so you're going to have to listen to me."

"What do you want me to do?" The ghost looked ready to agree to anything, which was exactly what he wanted. Excellent. "I'll do whatever I can."

"First, you need to answer to me if you think you have suspicions. We'll find out how to work that out later." Karkat raised a finger for that first thing and raised more as he continued. "Two, you're going to do it in a way that doesn't end in injury if you find something legitimate. And three, you're going to need to hide out for a couple of days. My dad's searching this place because of your bullshit."

"A couple of days?" Tavros looked hesitant. He didn't exactly want to leave the kids behind. "Are you sure? I don't want to leave anyone here alone."

"Tough shit. It's either seem them after a few days or never again." Karkat's harsh tone finally got the ghost to nod his head. "Do you agree with my terms? Or do we have to have another talk?"

"I understand." Tavros put his hand out nervously, giving a shaky smile. "It looks like we got a deal."

Karkat snorted, grabbing the boy's hand. "Yeah, I _guess we __**do."**_

Karkat felt a pain in his hand again, causing the two to rip their hands away. Ectoplasm and bit of blood dropped to the floor as they did, which they could only blink at.

"Does that happen a lot to you?" Tavros asked, genuinely curious. He didn't even look offended at the idea that his hand was bleeding.

"Second time that's happened." Karkat shook his head, grabbing the thermos. "Alright, time to take you out of here."

The halfa didn't have any trouble getting the ghost into the thermos, capping it to take one last look at the floor where the blood and ectoplasm landed. He frowned at it, looking his own hand before sighing. He didn't bother looking back as he finally left he damn daycare.

Karkat would figure that out later. He had some fucking sleep to catch up on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It does seem to be a quick wrap up, but there is some stuff we need to move on to. I'm implementing some more worldbuilding after this and I'm thinking it would take a lot to explain it. This was a breather compared to the other stuff from earlier chapters.
> 
> Alright then, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next chapter!


	25. Fright Knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I'm a little mixed on this chapter, though I think it establishes some pretty good world building I've been meaning to do for a while now. Plus, it also brings in some elements of the bigger story that need to be addressed, since the scope needs to be there.
> 
> That does mean that there's only one line break in here, meaning there is a lot of things going to happen one after another. So be prepared for that.
> 
> Either way, I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Karkat had only a few things to thank when it came to the media circus hitting the school and that was it gave them some extra time. They still did things online of course, but until things calmed down, class was about ten times easier than it would usually be. Tests turned to assignments, which they could do during online class if they wished.

While he honestly wished things would go back to normal soon, it did provide him a perfect opportunity to do this.

"Why are we doing this again?" Sollux was gripping the hover pack tightly, somehow still feeling naked despite wearing the hazmat suit. The Ghost Zone, despite looking cool in pictures, was terrifying up close. "This is great and all, feeling like a real astronaut, but this seems like a really bad idea."

"I need to know what that whole "bloody hand" thing is. It might be a new power and I'd really like to make sure it isn't dangerous." Karkat kept a tight hold on the two of them. They'd insisted on coming, despite the fact it was in the Ghost Zone. "Plus, we might learn more about ghosts and my fucked-up biology some more."

"And look at the ruins here too!" Aradia really wished that she brought a camera, but the hazmat suits didn't have pockets. "Why didn't you tell me Pompei was in here? You could've at least mentioned it!"

"If I did, it would take Terezi in dragon form to hold you back from diving face first into the portal to get to it." Karkat sighed. He really hoped that Muelin and Horuss held down the fort at the portal well enough to not get bored. "Just hold still. I want to make sure I'm not going full demon here instead of being a halfa."

"Actually, now that you bring that up, I have a question to ask." Aradia put her hands together, her pointer fingers aimed at her mouth. "Do you think early sightings of demons may have just been ghosts with fire powers and some slightly inhuman looks?"

"…It is way too early for a religious crisis." Sollux held his free hand over the glass of his helmet, mostly to complete the feeling of a facepalm. "We're not far from the meeting place, right? Please tell me, even if it isn't true."

"We are, relax." Karkat wasn't exactly happy to have that question thrown at him either, forcing him to fly faster. "Keep your suit on."

The meeting place really wasn't that far away. It was near Redglare's courthouse, which earned ooh's and awe's from Aradia and complaints about the architecture from Sollux. Terezi and Nepeta were hanging out nearby, talking happily while Vriska was pouting a little way away.

"Well, looks like the gangs all here." Karkat jerked his head towards Vriska, letting go of his friend's hands. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"Aranea's talking with Mom about the plea deal and she doesn't trust her to be on her own." Terezi chuckled at the glare she got from the girl. She raised her hands up into the air, smiling wide. "So how the hell have you been? Feels like I haven't seen you assholes in weeks."

"It wasn't that long. Sorry we couldn't include in the past ghost fights." Aradia rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "You know how things are up top."

"Any word on Tavros? Sorry we had to dump him on Redglare after the whole fight." Sollux shrugged with some embarrassment. "He's at least got a home here right now, right?"

"Yeah, Redglare sent him to some housing not far away from Vriskat's." Nepeta smirked as the nickname caused the Serket to twitch. "I think he might be afraid of his neighbors, though."

"If that Peter Pan looking ass is afraid of me, that's not my business." Vriska flipped them off, groaning. "Where are you guys taking me again? Just because I agreed to cooperate doesn't mean I want to do team building exercises."

"We told you this already." Terezi rolled her eyes at the girls' antics before moving her attention to everyone in the group. "Karkat here apparently might have a new power, and I think I know what it relates too. It's a big thing, though, and huge part of culture around here. You're all probably going to want to listen."

"Great, more revelations." Despite the sarcasm, Karkat was a little excited, especially since this might give him an edge against ghosts in the future. That didn't mean the thought of having more things to remember didn't annoy him a little. "I really hope this is just a normal field trip."

"With ghosts? No way!*" Aradia chuckled to herself at the joke, waving off the confused looks from everyone else. "It's a reference, don't worry about it."

"Please stop tempting fate, AA." Sollux motioned for everyone to get on with it. The Ghost Zone was cool up close, but it still creeped him out being inside an underworld. "Alright, Ms. Frizzle's, let's get started."

"Finally, I thought we were just going to be talking all day." Vriska started flying off in a random direction, guitar at the ready to hit someone. "Let's go before I start getting bored."

"Vriskat, that's the wrong way!" Nepeta waved her arms futilely at the retreating blond. "You don't even know where you're going."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

The group collectively sighed before Terezi and Karkat flew after her to collect her.

* * *

Despite the mishap of having to force Vriska to go the _correct_ way, it hadn't been much of a hassle to get where they were going. Nepeta and Terezi had taken turns holding onto the errant humans, mostly to make sure they didn't drift off.

When they finally did make to their destination, it became pretty obvious to them why Terezi felt the need to bring them here instead of simply explaining it over Ghostian.

In a space that felt the closest to static in the Ghost Zone, there stood twelve towers, each colored brightly, though ominously. Their height was comparable to small skyscrapers, making them stand out more among the large emptiness around it. Each was decorated with deep engravings into each side, as if carved there by giants.

They were all arranged in a circle, large enough that it gave each one ample room to stand out. A cobblestone center connected all of them together, separated into twelve sections colored the same as each building, along with a symbol in each one. Some were obvious, such as a sun, a gear, and a heart, while others were harder to determine at first glance.

The aura of the structures gave off was one of power, of something old and incomprehensible to everyone who saw it. But the buildings themselves looked as new as they day they were built, clean and untouched. Nothing like the green of the Ghost Zone surrounding it.

"Holy shit, this place actually looks pretty metal." Vriska hovered near the entrance leading to the courtyard. "Not exactly my style, but hell if isn't kinda cool."

"What is this place?" Karkat actually had to take a minute to articulate that question. He didn't know why, but this place was calming and alarming at the same time. "Not that I don't appreciate the tour, but I don't exactly understand what this has to do with my powers."

"It has everything to do with your powers. Well, kinda." Nepeta floated towards the center, the others following behind. "This place is pretty important to ghost culture and it might be the reason why the new one's showing up."

"You didn't exactly answer the question." Sollux squinted at the buildings. He swore that he saw some of the colors moving. "This looks like temples. Is this some kind of holy ground."

"In certain terms, yes. I wouldn't say it's an actual religion." Terezi was still joking around, but she apparently as wary as they were. "It's closer to a zodiac, in some ways. Or it can be both, depending on your definition of religion."

"Zodiacs?" Aradia's was definitely wishing she brought a camera with her now. Her feet settled on the cobblestone, almost causing her to stumble as she switched off the antigravity. "Seems like a lot to build for something related to star signs."

"That's because these aren't star signs. These are the Aspects." Terezi waved her hand at the symbols, drama in every movement. It would've been funny if it wasn't for the gravitas of the place. "All ghosts are connected a certain concept depicted here, whether they know of this or not. While there are no confirmed gods, these buildings were built for something. Nobody knows by who or who for."

"There are twelve known ones, each with their own meaning and power behind." Nepeta stood over the heart symbol, looking down at it fondly. "Some are obvious, some aren't. Some powers related to it or subtle, some are extremely obvious."

"And all ghosts have some relation to it." That was a weird thought, but Karkat figured that it'd make sense. Ghosts having religion wasn't that weird, especially since a lot of people with different faiths died every day. "And this relates to my powers."

"Exactly! You said that lately when you're making a deal with someone, you're making their hands bleed, right?" Karkat nodded to Nepeta's question. "Then I'd suggest standing over that symbol over there."

The cat eared ghost pointed at the part of the circle containing a symbol that looked like a wound. It was painted as a red diagonal cut with three strands of red dripping off of it, a stark contrast to the darker background. He moved to it carefully, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, the part of the circle lit up, causing him to pause. However, nothing else occurred afterward, the glow dying down immediately.

"Huh, looks like we were right." Terezi shrugged, nodding to herself. "Looks like you're connected to the Aspect of Blood. Interesting choice."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sollux took a step back. "What does that even represent? I swear, if Karkat starts blood bending-"

"Oh relax, Captor. It's nothing bad." Terezi shrugged, pointing her cane at the symbol. "Blood represents a lot of things. It's commonly accepted that Blood is related to the ideas of Unity, Bonds, and Obligations. It makes sense that his powers activate when he's making a deal, I guess."

"Wait, are you saying I made a literal blood oath with this guy?" Vriska shot over to Karkat, grabbing the jumpsuit with balled hands. "Get me out of it. I may have agreed to help you out here, but I ain't fucking with demon deals."

"That theory about demons actually being ghosts might be true after all." Aradia laughed a little as Vriska manhandled the halfa, who looked half ready to shoot her with an ecto blast. She did give a look towards their ghost friends, worried. "What exactly should we expect to see from this type of thing? And I guess from other Aspects too."

"It's hard to say. It differs from ghost to ghost." Nepeta pointed at the heart symbol with a slightly annoyed gaze. "I'm connected to the Aspect of Heart, but I sure as hell don't know how Self, Emotions, and Feelings manifest. I mean, I'm pretty good at understanding other people's emotions and have _amazing_ gut instincts, but that can't be it."

"I'm a Mind Aspect myself. Thought, Decisions, and Strategy are my thing." Terezi shrugged, humming to herself thoughtfully. "I can determine if anything's true or not because of it, usually finding facts a hell of a lot easier than most people. Makes me perfect for a prosecutor role."

"Okay, fine. I have a demon powers that focus on friendship, apparently." Karkat pushed Vriska off of him with a huff, straightening out his hazmat suit. "What happens if someone tries to break a deal with me then? And will I get other powers related to it?"

"I'm actually sure what happens when someone breaks a deal with you, but it can't be good. Plus, ghosts can only naturally produce one power related to their Aspect. If you want more," Terezi cringed slightly, looking at the buildings with a faint sense of caution. "You might want to pledge yourself to your Aspect. Which isn't really recommended."

"…This sounds a little too important not to ask questions about." Karkat narrowed his eyes, feeling dread push through him at the thought. "What does pledging myself to my Aspect do?"

"Kinda the same as pledging yourself to any other religion. You'd essentially be giving your time to it in exchange for other powers." Nepeta rubbed the back of her head nervously, wincing. "Of course, whatever your Aspect wants can vary wildly. Some devote their entire lives to it all of a sudden, some don't. It really depends the Aspect and the kind of person that subscribes to it."

"Karkat can become a _warlock._" Aradia grabbed at the halfa's suit, making him wonder if it was everyone's life goal to stretch the material out. "Karkat, you can be an undead warlock. Just like in Dungeons & Dragons. Please, tell me you're considering it."

"AA, you just heard them say that it might be dangerous." Sollux's eyes wandered over to the Blood symbol again. "For all we know that thing might make him a religious zealot hellbent on "spreading the word" or something."

"Don't forget possible blood sacrifices." Vriska supplied 'helpfully.' She received some glares for the comment, causing her to get angry back. "Hey, you said he might be pledging himself to a blood god. That sounds like it would lead right to human sacrifices."

"There's not going to be any blood sacrifices today, so don't worry about it." Terezi rolled her eyes before smiling mischievously. "Then again, we do have two virgin sacrifices Karkles supplied us with."

"What's Dungeons & Dragons?" Nepeta asked, which only furthered the confusion as the entire group erupted into chaos.

Karkat rolled his eyes as he watched it all unfold, though it was at least manageable. He took a little step back so he could get a better look at the buildings themselves. It seemed like the moving colors thing wasn't really an illusion, judging by the fact he could look at one building for a while and have it suddenly change when he wasn't looking.

That fact almost made him miss seeing a cloaked figure above the Blood building.

Karkat froze at the sight of the figure, taking stock into this and hoping this wasn't going to be a fight. A quick check confirmed that the hooded figure was the only other person here other than their group. It was easy to tell the figure was masculine, along with being somewhat in the thirties, forties range in age.

The hood itself was gray, shrouding the man in darkness as it surrounded him fully. Karkat could see some pants and boots as well, black with red lines etched into them, but cloak covered the rest. Eyes as red and blank as his glowed under the shadow.

Karkat gulped, taking a brief look behind him before raising his hand and waving. "Hey!"

He heard the conversations stop behind him, though the figure himself didn't respond. He hadn't blinked either, which set him on edge even more.

"You, uh, wouldn't happen to be a priest around here, right?" Karkat was leaning more towards cultist, though all religions started as cults anyway. "You guys got any pamphlets to share? Something informative hopefully."

The only reaction he got was the figure turning away, flying off into a random direction.

Karkat didn't know why, but he felt the need to follow. Immediately.

"Wait up!" Karkat flew forward, hearing shouts behind him as he moved. Sollux and Aradia were the loudest, though something in him made it ignore it. It was like they were already miles away from him. Blood roared in his ears. "I've got questions!"

The figure didn't seem to hear him or was ignoring him entirely. Karkat felt a growl of frustration as the man took a turn at a floating island, disappearing entirely. He sped up himself, a desperate feeling forming in his heart.

He stopped as the man had been replaced by someone else, though moving in the same direction. They looked completer and more open, though a different shade of red. It had the symbol of a gear on it, like the one on the circle.

_(whoareyou)_

"Where the hell did he go?" The halfa muttered to himself before noticing the new figure was almost out of sight. "Hey!"

He flied forward, trying to catch up to the new figure. He disappeared around another corner too, causing him to fly faster.

Another person this time, a girl. Wearing a lot of black, accented by green. He could see dog ears on her head, green sparks flitting around her. He couldn't see her face, covered by the hood and long hair as she zapped from place to place.

_(whatareyou)_

Another corner this time, a zap making her vanish. There was a blue boy this time, his head dragging long behind him. Karkat could hear laughter, as the boy seemingly moved with the wind, created it around him. There was a sense of freedom to it.

_(pleaseanswerme)_

He hadn't meant to lose the boy, he just flew up ward, behind another island. When he caught up, it was another girl. Light colors, the sun symbol on her back and a smile saying many things without meaning too. Blonde hair floated as she moved towards another island, her smile growing wider as she slowly dove behind it.

_(soachinglyfamiliar)_

Karkat was met with empty space this time. He blinked, breathing hard even if the flight hadn't strained him. He looked around frantically, seeing none of the people that were there before. A heartbeat he shouldn't have possessed in this form died down, the roaring blood leaving his ears.

The shocking amount of despair of losing them almost made him miss the sound of shouting that was following him. He gained his bearings well enough to turn around as Nepeta nearly crashed into him.

"Dude, holy shit, don't do that!" Nepeta weakly punched his arm as he blinked blankly at her. "I've run after pretty red lights before and stuff, but that doesn't mean you have to too."

"Jesus, Phantom, the hell is up with you now?" Vriska was weirdly just behind the cat eared ghost, frowning deeply. "Have you snapped or something? You started flying after air and we could barely keep up with you."

"What? I wasn't flying after air; I was following that guy in a robe!" Karkat raised his arms, vaguely motioning where they should be. "Then there were other ones floating around, trying to get away from me. Hell, the first guy was standing on the Blood building when I found him."

"Karkles, we didn't see any of that. We have no idea what you're talking about." Terezi had finally caught up, having been the one to grab Aradia and Sollux. "You just started speaking to empty air and then shot off into nowhere. We didn't see any robes."

"Have you been getting enough sleep lately? I know some of the annoying ghosts have out lately, but are you getting insomnia again?" Sollux really hoped that wasn't the case. Last time Karkat was tired enough to start hallucinating, he had to take some melatonin and slept for nearly eighteen hours straight. "We could take a break from ghost hunting. I'm pretty sure the Box Ghost isn't going to cause any real damage."

"He's got a point. It was pretty bad last time." Aradia tried to check to see if there were bags under his eyes, but it was hard to tell when he was in ghost form. "Maybe we can get Aranea to do some rounds for you and work off her sentence. That's a good way to use it, right?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm crazy! I know what I saw." Karkat crossed his arms, scowling a little. Just because they were right about the lack of sleep didn't mean he was hallucinating anything. "Besides, I did fine last time my insomnia came up. Helped me ace all those final exams freshman year."

"I'm pretty that isn't- wait." Nepeta's sentence died on her lips, ears twitching as her gaze became vacant. Her ears continued to twitch for several seconds as all the attention went onto her.

There were a few moments of silence as they tried to listen carefully along with her, though couldn't hear a peep. It took them a bit to finally hear the sound of rockets burning bright within the Ghost zone.

"Skulker." Terezi pulled the two humans with her into a hiding place, followed behind by the rest of the ghosts. "Keep quiet, we don't know if he's with anyone right now."

Everyone remained silent as they heard the rockets get louder overhead, before eventually passing over them. They slowly tried to follow it in order to keep an eye out for the robotic ghost, though made sure the distance was a good while away. They weren't able to fully see him through the cluster of islands until they reached the epicenter.

Several things were odd about this situation. In the center of the cluster of islands, there stood a golden coffin covered with blackened glass. Carvings in black swirls were deep within the edges, all stemming from a black helmet portrayed at the top.

The second strange thing was Skulker was not only completely rebuilt, but he actually had someone accompanying him. That wouldn't have been too weird since he probably didn't always work alone. There was also the fact that he apparently did some work for other ghosts when need be.

But whoever he was bringing here wasn't a ghost. It was very clearly a human.

The group tensed at that, especially since they couldn't see the human's face, obscured by full face gas mask and a protective suit of their own. Whoever it was, they weren't a prisoner since they arrived prepared, along with being unnaturally relaxed while being guided by the hunter ghost.

"I really hope you know what you're messing with here, old man." Skulker growled loud enough for them to hear, the silence around them carrying the noise. "You're messing with things I doubt you have any true power over. It was a serious risk bringing you hear."

"And when the time comes, you will be rewarded." The human's voice was muffled and somehow filtered to be unrecognizable. They were holding a device in each hand, casually and carefully. They looked almost ghostly in origin. "I just need some time and we'll be on our way."

"You better not be lying to me. I'm not even sure how you my contact information." Skulker huffed, checking over the landscape. He failed to see the group as he kept talking. "How did you learn about this place? I didn't even know it existed, and I'm the greatest hunter in the Infinite Realms."

"So you keep telling me. It's usually not a good thing to brag about it so much." The human replied, moving towards the coffin with slow purpose. "And much like how I was told to contact you, I learned about this place from a very good friend."

Karkat strained to hear more, but felt an elbow sharply hit his ribs. He bit back a yelp at the pain, giving a glare to Terezi. The absolute alarm on her face stopped him from getting pissed at her though.

"We can't let them get any closer to that." Terezi shook her head slowly, nose twitching. "There's something in there that is _really_ powerful. I don't know what it is, but we can't let it out of there."

Karkat frowned before nodding. He formulated a plan quickly in his head.

"Everyone spread out. Aradia, Sollux, you hang back and fire from a distance since you guys can't really fly that fast on your own." The halfa received confirmation from his friends before moving on to the others. "Terezi, Nepeta, Vriska, you surround the place and pounce on him when I give the signal. We don't know if the human is packing anything on him, but I'll distract them before they do anything rash."

Even if some of them (mainly Vriska) didn't seem happy to go along with the plan, but he didn't give them any time to. He slipped out from behind the floating island they used as a hiding place and started get attention to himself.

"Hey, Skulker! I didn't know you did part time work as a tour guide!" Karkat felt the smallest bit of satisfaction of getting both Skulker and the human to nearly jump. "Is being the Infinite Realms greatest hunter not working out for you?"

"Whelp!" Skulker had one of his guns come out of his arm before pointing it at the halfa. The robotic ghost winced, though, changing the gun out for a smaller one. "I wasn't expecting to find you here. I figured you'd be too afraid to step in here, especially after our last battle."

"Are you talking about the one where you got beat up by a gorilla, or when I cut your arm off?" Karkat eyed the weapon, figuring it was a nonlethal option. Oberon must've told him to hold back since he was another half ghost. "Doesn't matter. I'm more curious about your friend here."

"I would appreciate if you'd address me directly, young man." The human replied. Now that Karkat was closer, he could almost tell that the human was a man. Then again, it was still hard to tell with the bulky suit. "I'm sorry if this intrusion on your world seems unwarranted, but I happen to have some business here."

"Does it have to do with the coffin here? I'm not sure you should mess with that." Karkat floated off to one side to get a better look at it, squinting. "Usually if something is locked in with gold casings and black glass, that's usually a sign that you might not want to open it. Trust me, I've seen movies."

"I assure you; I know what I'm doing." The human didn't seem phased by the banter at all, keeping things light. Oddly cocky, yet formal. "I've done my research and I know how to do this without putting myself into danger."

Karkat cocked his head, eyes narrowing. "And what about everyone else?"

The human paused, putting a hand to where his chin would be. He eventually shrugged before sighing. "I suppose you have me there. Skulker, please drive this young man off while I do my work."

As Skulker's gun was charged up, Karkat rolled his eyes. He grabbed his sickles, charging them with ecto-energy before shouting.

"Now!"

The next few minutes were an absolute shitshow.

Karkat swerved to the side as Skulker's shot fired, swinging the sickle to let the ecto-energy move outward. Skulker rose up to dodge, only to be hit straight in the back by a tackle. Nepeta's claws ripped into one of his arms, causing significant damage before he knocked her off of him.

The assault was only furthered as Karkat swung another wave of ecto-energy at him, hitting him back before he was hit by several shots from Aradia's hidden spot. Sollux's ecto-bazooka flared to life, hitting the robotic ghost with a beam of energy hitting him by the side.

While Skulker was being unfairly bodied by the four, the human himself cursed before trying to hurry over to the coffin. Before he could take two steps, Terezi and Vriska flew between him and the coffin.

"Can't let you do that, dude." Terezi pulled out the sword from her cane, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it on him. Humans weren't as durable as ghosts after all. "Put whatever you have down, and we'll get you out of here quietly."

"Or you can keep holding on and get taken out kicking and screaming." Vriska strummed her guitar with a smirk, a little bloodlust peeking through. "Feel free to choose whatever you like."

"Hm," The human's hand reached for a pouch, grabbing what looked like a blank white orb. It sparked with yellow as the human tossed it up before catching it. "I'd rather have a third option, thank you."

The human shot his hand forward, the orb lighting up to create a burst of light aimed for the two of them. Terezi and Vriska dodged, curses coming from both before Vriska strummed her guitar to send sound waves toward him. A spark of green caused him to teleport away from it, dodging completely.

Terezi tried getting close, swing her sword at the human several times. He kept teleporting away each time before sending another beam of light towards her, which grazed her arms. Hissing softly, she opened her mouth to send out a stream of fire make him back off.

Meanwhile, the other group was faring pretty well against Skulker, especially since he was outnumbered. Karkat had gotten closer, swinging his sickle around, trying to cut off a limb. With a great swing, he caught a hand of his and chopped it right off.

"Oh, looks like someone's getting _disarmed_." Nepeta cackled at the pun while the others rolled their eyes at her. Aradia had to stifle a laugh at the corny joke herself, though. "Maybe you should just tell us why you're here and we'll let you go. Don't want to make another suit again, right?"

"I will never concede to the likes of you! Besides, he's the one that wanted to come here, not me." Skulker waved an arm to the human, who was still dodging the other two ghosts' fruitless attacks. "If you want answers, ask him."

"We'll be sure to." Karkat suddenly moved forward, grabbing the other sickle, and crossing his arms in front of his face. "Fire Sollux!"

Sollux fired another charged round of the ecto-bazooka, the stream of energy sending Skulker forward. Karkat waited until they were close enough to each other before they connected. The robotic ghosts head and some of his upper body were separated, effectively taking him out of the fight.

The human, taking a moment to pause, saw the end of the fight. He only hummed softly to himself before shaking his head.

"This is clearly not going to end well for me." More sparks of green energy, and he moved next to the coffin. Before the others could move to stop him, he grabbed something else from his utility belt, slapping it onto the coffin. "I wish that this didn't have to end in violence, but so be it. Good luck on surviving what's next."

The human vanished before they could reply.

"Where the fuck did he go?" Karkat growled. He turned, grabbing Skulkers head and quickly cutting it of from the body he was still connected to. He could see the little feet of the ghost blob as he stared into the robotic head's eyes. "Skulker, how the fuck did he do that, and where did he go?!"

"Like I said before, whelp. I. Don't. Know." Skulker scowled, the expression becoming less threatening when it was only a head. "Maybe you should've focused on capturing him first."

"Yeah, but he was just armed with a fucking party ball, you discount Terminator." Karkat could already tell he wasn't going to get much, causing him to pull out and use the thermos. He turned quickly, seeing Vriska and Terezi inspecting the gadget. "What did he put on that thing, anyway?"

"Not sure. Kinda looks like a small, tiny…" Vriska suddenly jerked back, grabbing Terezi before flying towards one of the islands for cover. "It's a bomb! Everybody get down!"

Despite the warning, Karkat and Nepeta had only a few seconds to react as an explosion ripped through the Ghost Zone. The two were sent, hitting the islands with force as the area shook, some of the islands crumbling. Karkat could distinctly hear shouting, but none of them sounded pained.

When the explosion was over, Karkat felt himself recover slowly, blinking his eyes to adjust them back to normal light. He breathed heavily, the adrenaline from it all bleeding out as he turned back to the coffin, dread forming in his gut.

The island that had been supporting the coffin was now destroyed, though the item itself remained in its place. The gold didn't appear to be affected by the blast, almost as ornate as it was since they first saw it. The black glass that had kept it closed, however, was broken, revealing the figure inside.

A knight dressed in fully black armor was laying there, arms uniform at his side while, peacefully sleeping. The armor itself had spikes on the forearms and on the helmet, looking much like the symbol that depicted on the coffin. Where the armor wasn't black, it was a dark gray that marred his shoulders, forearms, and shoes.

Karkat didn't know who this person was, other than it was dangerous. Something about the man in armor set him on edge, turning his thoughts darker with fear. Anxiety began to spike, his hair was standing on end, but he didn't know why.

All he knew that _it_ was slowly opening its eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, a lot of world building. Plus, this will all play later as the story progress in one way or another.
> 
> Also, random announcment; Vriska has her own playlist now! I added in a lot of rock and some new songs I haven't heard of before, at least in an effort not to repeat music.
> 
> Here it is: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1NSDshNDYTrilT5iLraGNr
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one.


	26. An Omen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again, this came out a little later than I'd like, but it still did. Again, this is a three parter, so it's not ending here at all. A lot of wordbuilding is coming up and some foreshadowing too (for the stuff I do have planned). Hopefully it's all good for you guys.
> 
> Anyway, let's head on to the chapter!

Karkat wasn't sure when the hush of the battlefield settled, but it certainly did after the ghost in the coffin had opened his eyes. While it didn't move, he had a feeling he wasn't the person there keeping a close eye on the suit of armor.

It was when the ghost took a thundering step out of the coffin when activity started once again.

He felt a tug on the back of his suit, Terezi jerking him back before the knight ghost could get a look at him. They were already moving a good distance away before his mind finally caught up with his body.

"Hey, where the hell are we going?" Karkat tried to swat away the girl's hand, but she only tightened her grip. "Shouldn't we figure out who that is? What if he's dangerous?"

"That's exactly why we're getting the fuck out of here." There wasn't a lick of humor in her voice, making him shut up. "We are not fighting that thing. We need actual help on this one."

Karkat stifled a comeback, seeing Nepeta holding onto Aradia and Sollux flying just as fast out of that scene. Vriska looked just as reluctant to leave as he was but decided to err on the side of caution for once and followed them.

As they left the cluster of islands, Karkat could've swore he saw the ghost turn to look in their direction. The halfa caught the things gaze as he did, red meeting green.

Karkat felt a shiver go down his spine as he looked away first.

* * *

"You still haven't explained to me just what the hell is happening with that halfa thing."

Redglare knew how to deal with many different things in her life, having lived so long. Her life had been just as insane as her afterlife, so it wasn't like she was unprepared for a lot of stuff that was thrown her way.

Still, a pissed off cat-woman was a pissed off cat-woman. That was really hard to handle.

"I keep telling you, there's nothing much else to tell. I'm sure Nepeta told you everything already." Redglare took a sip of her coffee, checking on her itinerary for today. "Hell, Muelin probably filled you in on some more details Nepeta didn't, Nebs."

Nebit Leijon wasn't a woman you'd really want to mess with, but Redglare wasn't one to follow warnings very well. Built like a brick house and as graceful as a leopard, she was the best _legitimate_ huntress in the Infinite Realms. With untamed black hair parted only by ears like her daughters, slit, yellow eyes that were predatory in nature, and claws sharp enough to rip Skulker to shreds, she wasn't one to be messed with.

It was only proven more by the fact she was wearing her hunting outfit today. A black long-sleeved shirt ending in a tattered skirt, black leggings, both with accents of green, a Leo symbol drawn out on the shirt, going around her shoulders and over her chest, nearly covered by the dark green coat with the fur around the neck. Knives adorned her belt in a simple bandolier.

"I'm trying, but Nepeta's been having a huge independent streak lately. I get that, but it makes it really hard to get any information out of her." Greatest huntress or not, she wasn't immune to pouting and putting her head in her hands. "Muelin doesn't really talk to anyone about her problems outside of Horuss. And we both know I'm not going to talk to his dad about this."

"If you really want to know anything, it's that the kids are okay. I've actually met him, and he doesn't seem like much trouble." Redglare took another sip of coffee, muttering under her breath. "Trouble loves finding him, though."

"These ears aren't just for show, Redglare." Nebit sighed, grabbing her own cup. She hated the taste of coffee, always having hers smothered in cream and sugar. "Two of the most successful women in the Infinite Realms, and we're having a tough time raising kids."

"Mine are doing just fine, thank you." It was all normal teasing between them, even if Nebit had a point. "Excelling even. Terezi actually nabbed several criminals the other day and brought them here."

"Aww, I remember when she was burning down her crib with her fire breath." The cat-woman laughed at the memory before finishing off her coffee in one final swig. She put down the cup with a slam before getting up. "I don't know about you, but I think I'll meet up with them at the temples. Get an actual look at the kid."

"Honestly, you probably won't have to. If anything, they'll come to us." Redglare leaned back in her seat, steepling her fingers. "Hopefully with nothing following them."

As if the fates were masters of comedic timing, this is when Terezi decided to slam the doors open, flying in with haste. She swished past, barely giving the two any notice.

" ,himom,somethinghappened,needabooktoexplain."

The jumble of words was undecipherable, even to Redglare. Neither adult moved before Nebit looked slowly at the other woman with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, looks like something followed them." Nebit felt insanely smug for finally having the upper hand. "Whatever could it be?"

"I never said I didn't have future sight, okay?" Redglare didn't, but she felt some embarrassment at being proven wrong. The draconic woman looked down at the body her daughter left behind near the door. "How's it going Vantas?"

"Not well." Karkat had been left to fall face first after Terezi had flown in. He didn't bother getting up, wishing he could blend in with the wood right now. "Might've had a run in with something bad. Not sure what it is though."

"Well, I'd be happy to hear it if you're willing to stop getting to know the floorboards." Redglare was happy to see Karkat comply, slowly floating himself off as he rubbed his head. "Also, someone here wants to meet you anyway. Two birds, one stone, you know how it is."

"Who wants to- oh." Karkat immediately backed up at the sight of Nebit, apprehensive. Looking her over, he couldn't help but mutter. "I thought Nepeta only had one sister, Jesus Christ."

"Hey, don't flirt with my mom!" Nepeta had decided to make her entrance, Aradia and Sollux in tow. "That'll throw the shipping charts _way_ out of order!"

"Yeah, KK, don't you have any shame?" Sollux added, brushing off the cat-girls hand. He shook his head with visible disappointment, clucking his tongue. "Just when I think you can't sink to a new low."

"Can I flirt with your mom?" Vriska trailed behind, looking Nebit up and down with a raised eyebrow. "That shouldn't throw your charts or something out of order, right? I might do it anyway."

"Nobody's allowed to flirt with anybody's mom right now. Hot or not, we've got bigger problems." Aradia waved her arms to catch everyone attention, sighed before face palming her helmet. "This conversation is goddamn weird."

As Nebit couldn't help but just blink at the chaos going around her, Redglare leaned to Karkat with blank face. "Am I not the hot mom in this situation?"

"I have no idea how to answer that without receiving immediate retribution for it." Karkat really didn't want to go down this avenue of conversation longer than he had to. He whistled, catching the rest of the teens attention before continuing. "Aradia's got a point. Shit's kinda hit the fan here and we need to focus right now."

"What's happening?" Redglare did get serious, despite the funny business.

"This." Terezi came back carrying a book, a lot calmer than she was before. Slamming it down onto the table, pointing at the page that it was opened to. "This is happening."

The text was thankfully in plain English, though the subject matter was confusing to the outside observer. Two expertly illustrated drawings were on it, showing the coffin that had been destroyed in its complete form, the other being an etching of the figure. On the top of the page was the words "Fright Knight" on it.

"Terezi, sweetie," Nebit raised an eyebrow at the page before looking up at them in concern. "You might want to give us a little more to go on than that."

"It happened right after we figured out my Aspect." Karkat figured he'd take charge on this one, starting things off. "I saw a guy in a robe watching us and tried talking to him. He left right after and when I tried finding him- and several other people apparently- they disappeared after we made it to a cluster of islands. I still don't know how none of you guys saw them…"

"It's because you were hallucinating." Nepeta patted the teens back, despite the fact the boy was giving her an outraged look. "After all of us caught up with him, we heard Skulker yapping on about something. We didn't know expect him there, so we hid out to see why."

"He had a human with him, mom." Terezi paced the floor, deep in thought. The encounter was making her brain go into overdrive. "Just some random guy he apparently decided to pick up."

"Not to burst your bubble, but those two are human too." Redglare waved at Aradia and Sollux with an awkward smile. "Welcome to the afterlife, by the way. Weird to see someone alive."

"We're glad to be here." Aradia smiled politely, though the tenseness of it was not hard to discern. "But we didn't know that guy either. He was a complete stranger."

"And Spades isn't doing an expedition into here yet until he can get some help from the government." Sollux remembered overhearing that conversation. His dads had been raving about it too when Spades mentioned it to them. "He hasn't got the clearance, so it can't be a government guy."

"Didn't the guy have an orb that gave him superpowers or something?" Vriska received some nods at that. She mentally noted to destroy that thing the next time she saw it. "Yeah, so not a normal dude. Bastard is going to have his nuts bashed in next time I see him."

"Okay," Redglare's interest had been peaked, though she didn't really get what this had to do with the book. "I'll have some people look out for a human, but it looks like you guys are okay. What exactly was he here for?"

"To open that." Terezi pointed at the illustrated coffin with a grimace. "The human let Fright Knight out of his cage."

There were a few moments of silence as the two adults looked back at the page, studying it for a while. Digesting the information with serious fervor, Redglare eventually got up from her chair, face unreadable.

"Do you have Skulker in your thermos, Phantom?" Redglare gave Karkat a look that caused him to stand at attention.

"Yes ma'am." He said, pulling said item off his belt. He moved closer to the table, the tension in the room rising a little bit.

"Open it."

Karkat figured it'd be best to just comply, twisting the cap off the thermos with a flourish. Pointing the thing at the table, he pressed the button to release the blob that called himself a hunter, a stream of light followed by the tumbling off Skulkers form. The little ghost steadied itself on the wood of the table before glaring at the halfa.

"Whelp!" The blob ghost pointed a finger accusingly at the teen, glaring. It wasn't an impressive display, given his current form. "I have no idea where you've taken me, but I assure you, once I get a hand on one of my backup bodies- hey!"

The tirade was cut short as Nebit grabbed Skulker's little leg, holding him up to eye level. Skulker immediately changed his tune as his eyes caught sight of the woman's slit ones.

"Nebit Leijon!" The realization of his position was finally dawning on the little bastard, causing him to squirm. "I-I didn't realize you were here. I was just doing a bit of work when I happened to run across-"

"Yeah, yeah, save it for now you goddamn poacher." Nebit rolled her eyes, flicking the tiny ghost upside the head. He swung from side to side from the hit alone. "A little birdy told me that you might have fucked up a lot of things for everyone. Mind explaining what you were doing with that human?"

"He was paying me to find some coffin! He didn't explain what was in there." Skulker did not want any more trouble coming his way. This was already a bad situation for him, and he knew it. "That's all he asked for. Said he already had a way back too."

"That's not what we're concerned about, Skulker." Redglare's voice put the blob even more on edge. Things somehow got even worse. "Your friend decided to apparently open the damn thing. You know what was inside?"

"…No?"

Nebit raised an eyebrow before turning her hand, letting him see the page. Redglare even turned the book around so he could read it more clearly. The blob ghost squinted, reading the title before jerking back, as if struck. Skulker started waving his arms around, panicking at the two women narrowed their eyes at him.

"I didn't know what that was, I swear! He just told me where he wanted to go, and I took him there." Skulker was bobbing to and fro thanks to his movements. "Please tell me he didn't open it. If he did, that wasn't my idea!"

"He did, and whether that was or not matters little. You did bring him there and that's it." Redglare sighed, rubbing at her eyes with a hand. "Nebit, mind transporting him to one of the smaller holding cells?"

"Can do. Though I'd rather just eat him now and get him out of our hair." Nebit laughed a little at the joke before shrugging. "Eh, he'd probably taste terrible anyway. Later, Skulky."

One of the claws on her hand started glowing, which she dragged across the wooden table. A tiny portal formed, big enough for Skulker to pass through. Nebit dropped him in it immediately, brushing her hands off of him as the portal closed.

"I could practically feel the slime on him." Nebit sighed, getting up immediately afterward. "We need to deal with this now. Redglare and I are going to hunt down and see if we can try and limit the damage."

"What do you want us to do?" Karkat immediately floated slightly upward, already eyeing the door. "If that guy's dangerous, should we set up a trap first? Or is it possible to take him out quickly?"

"_We're_ going out to get him while warning every ghost we see to find safety. You kids are going stay here." Redglare grabbed her cane from the table, quickly checking the blade hidden within it. Satisfied with its sharpness, she headed towards the door. "Fright Knight is dangerous and we're not sending teenagers to fight him."

"But-" Karkat felt a hand grab his shoulder stopping him, once again being pulled back by Terezi. Redglare and Nebit headed out before he could speak up anymore. Once the doors closed, Vriska stomped a foot on the floor to get everyone's attention.

"Can someone explain what the hell is going on here?" Vriska didn't seem to care about the tension in the room. Then again, this was confusing as all hell, so it was understandable. "I don't know who Fright Knight is, but he sounds too much like a B-movie villain to be considered this scary."

"You might want to reconsider." Nepeta picked up the book, looking through the page with a concern. "Considering this guy used to be the old ghost kings right hand man, we should definitely be scared."

"You guys had a king?" Aradia raised her eyebrows at that, moving to get a look at the book too. "I didn't expect you guys to have monarchy set up. I thought the Infinite Realms were divided into different territories."

"We are. Lord English hasn't exactly been active for a long time now. Only reason we know about him is because some of his shit is still around to cause trouble." Terezi sighed, moving into her mother's chair, rubbing at her eyes. "He was basically a huge tyrant that wanted to take over the Infinite Realms and eventually the human world."

"I'm guessing he wasn't able to do it?" Sollux joked, though he made a mental note to take some time to research later. "And what exactly did Lord English and Fright Knight do that made them earn an eternal rest."

The two ghosts looked at each other before shrugging, Terezi handing the book off to Karkat.

"Everything about Fright Knight is in here. It's not comprehensive, but it's a good summary." Terezi didn't know what else to say. This was a huge topic, and she didn't really know how to cover it all just by talking about it. "It's not a fun read, though. And not because it's boring."

Karkat raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he looked down at the page, ignoring the presence of the others as they crowd around him…

* * *

_ **Fright Knight: The Omen of Lord English.** _

_Fright Knight is easily considered one of the most mysterious ghosts recorded in all of the Infinite Realms known history. While many accounts have been taken of his deeds as Lord English's right hand, nothing is known about his life, death, or anything else until Lord English started gathering power._

_Only three things are concrete; one is that he was working with Lord English since the beginning of his reign. Two, he has been known to discorporate entire armies of ghosts with little effort as long when at his full power. And three, his Aspect is Doom._

_Fright Knight is only one of many names for him; The Walking Omen, The Dreaded Sword, Conqueror, etc. were all names prescribed to him, though Fright Knight is the only name Lord English seemed to call him. As for why he earned those other titles, this was mostly because of his actions during the ghost king's take over._

_This man (or monster, depending on who you ask) is responsible for large military campaigns that have led in mass slaughter, intermittent fear, and a horror that has lasted for hundreds of years. Tales of a sword that, if it cuts you and you survive it, will show you your imminent death. Some have been said to have discorporate almost immediately from its touch, never to be seen again._

_The end of Fright Knight's destruction was not long after the imprisonment of his master. It was said that several Doom Aspect ghosts had found a way to entrap him in the coffin pictured above. The exact method behind it is said to have been written down in case of his escape, but it undecipherable to those who aren't connected directly to the Doom Aspect._

_It is unknown what exactly would occur if Fright Knight escapes from his prison, but it is expected to cause great discord in the Infinite Realms if it comes to pass. Aspects of Doom, Time, and similar have claimed many things, but nothing has been proven at this time._

* * *

"…This is fucking bad." Karkat didn't know the full history behind it, promising himself that he'd look into later, but this was enough of a warning. "This is really fucking bad."

He put down the book, moving into the other seat while the others grabbed it, trying to read further. He could only imagine what would happen if that guy actually made it out into the human world.

"This has gotta be exaggerated. Ghost king or not, you don't just raze armies by yourself." Vriska shrugged. It was an interesting story, but it wasn't like any of this could be real. "If he was really that bad, why not just get rid of him themselves. Make sure there isn't any possibility of him coming back."

"That would've been the smart option, but the Time Aspect ghosts had a problem with it. Said if they did, it would cause doom to everyone else." Terezi did agree with her, irritation flitting through her form. "And it's always a good idea to listen to Time Aspect ghost when they're talking about doomed timelines."

"Doesn't that mean we shouldn't let you and Nepeta's mom run out there alone?" Aradia's question brought dread amongst the party, making them still. "I'm not saying they probably wouldn't put up a good fight, but if Fright Knights as powerful as they say…"

"He's gotta be weak after being trapped for so long, though. Maybe if they get to him in time, they can just take him out." Nepeta didn't sound sure of herself, but it did make sense in some way. "My mom's pretty fast when she wants to be, and Redglare can turn into a dragon. I'd say that's plenty of firepower."

"That's if they do it quickly enough. And just because he was trapped doesn't mean he's going to be powerless." Sollux rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking things through. "We should just wait here and keep an ear out for anything. If they need backup, they'll come for it."

The room was starting to devolve into chaos as they all started to bicker and argue. Karkat remained silent for a few moments longer before deciding to stand up.

"Guys." The halfa swallowed a little to make sure his next words came out clearly. "I think I have a plan."

* * *

"I really don't know why you guys think I'll be able to help." Tavros twiddled his thumbs as he followed the other ghosts at a slower pace. "Especially if this guy is as bad as you say. This'll let me go back out to the kids again, right?"

"It will. All you have to do is hang back and blast at a distance. You can bug out if things get too dangerous." Karkat sent a look towards Aranea after he finished talking to Tavros. "I'm surprised you agreed so fast. Not a lot to do while on house arrest?"

"Considering this lowers my sentence _and_ lets me learn more about the 'Infinite Realms,' I can play along for this." Aranea, in her shadow form, rolled all of her eyes at once. "Not to mention Vriska has little to no self-preservation, so it's best I keep an eye on her."

"Hey, I can take care of myself! We've done that whole 'knock em' down, bring em' up' skit for years." Vriska hmphed, keeping her guitar at the ready. "I also kicked a cyborgs ass today, and I didn't need your help on that."

"No, you helped _me_ try and capture a human with a magic orb. And you didn't even get that to work." Terezi stuck out her tongue at the blonde's offended face. "The other did all the work taking that asshole down. Not to mention we can finally book him too."

"Alright, let's focus on something else please." Nepeta didn't want to hear some more arguing from those two, poking at Karkat instead. "Do you really think it was a good idea to leave Aradia and Sollux at the portal? They didn't seem happy about it."

Karkat could only nod, thinking through the plan once again. "Yeah, but they'll have time to get over it. Besides, the hover packs aren't built for speed, so it's not like they can dodge all that well with them."

Karkat's plan was relatively simple. While they wouldn't dive headfirst into a fight with a possibly powerful ghost, they would be backup in case things for Redglare and Nebit start going south. They'd picked up Aranea and Tavros as backup to make up for the lack of Aradia and Sollux, who were guarding the portal with Muelin.

He would've brought them along, but he figured some firepower should be there in case this fight led to portal at all. Hopefully Horuss and Latula would come along to back them up to, maybe set up defenses if things didn't go great with them. As long as Fright Knight didn't make it out into the human world, things would hopefully be okay.

That didn't mean he wanted to test that possibility at all, which is why they had that defense there.

As if on cue with the negative thought, an explosion could be heard in the distance, causing the group to stop and immediately change course towards it. Most of them did their best to hide as they tried to get a good look at the battle from a distance.

It wasn't hard to find the source of it as a roar erupted, coming from Nebit as he launched several ghost rays at Fright Knight. The ghost didn't so much as flinch as he blocked several of them with a dark shield. Before Nebit could react, the Knight lunged at her, kicking her in the stomach hard enough to launch her back.

Redglare, looking more draconic than usual, breathed a stream of fire at the Knight, causing him to go on the defensive once more. Nebit recovered, raking her claws into open air several times before letting blasts go into each portal opened. Several portals opened behind the opposing ghost, the blasts hitting him the back. It was almost enough to cause him to buckle, letting Redglare keep on blasting fire at him than before.

"Looks like they're handling themselves." Nepeta was relieved, even if that attack on her mom almost gave her a heart attack. "Maybe we aren't needed after all."

"It'd still be a good idea to keep on things." Karkat tapped his fingers against the solid earth that was the floating island. He still felt a bit of dread as he watched the battle rage on. "Shit like this can turn in a second."

As if to reflect his sentiment, Fright Knights shield started to glow, ecto-energy flowing around it. A pulse came out, knocking Redglare back with the force of it. Nebit growled, slashing open a bigger portal, diving in to appear next the knight ghost, slashing wildly.

Despite a few glances, the hits seemed to ineffective until her claws started glowing once again. Fright Knight grabbed one of her hands, using the momentum to throw her behind him. Before Redglare could get back up again, he grabbed her by the throat. The shield started to disappear, forming into a glowing, flaming sword.

"Goddamit, why do I even say shit anymore." Karkat muttered to himself, already moving before anyone could stop him.

As Fright Knight raised the sword to stab Redglare in the gut, Karkat pulled out a sickle and swiped at the ghosts' hand. The force was enough to surprise the ghost, disarming him as the halfa grabbed it in hand.

Redglare raised a leg, kicking the knight ghost in the stomach. She gave a glare at Karkat before letting more draconic traits come out.

"Why am I not surprised that you're here?" Redglare's voice had gotten deeper, more guttural at the transformation. "I'm guessing Terezi didn't convince you to stay put."

"I'm kind of a dumbass, if you haven't noticed." Karkat kept a tight grip on the sword, ignoring the thrum of power that radiated off it. It felt heavy in his hands and he desperately hoped he wouldn't cut himself with it. "Besides, it looked like you needed backup, and we brought a lot of it."

Karkat waved at the others giving them the cue to attack. The flood of ghosts dispersed, spreading out and firing at Fright Knight before he could react. The ghost simply started dodging, trying to avoid the stream of shots.

"Hey, asshole! Isn't a little early to get dressed up for Halloween?" Fright Knights gaze turned to Karkat. The eyes narrowed dangerously as Karkat flipped the sword in his hands. "Trick or Treating with a real sword isn't exactly doing you any favors either. Maybe get a little less fanatic about the holiday."

The knight ghost launched himself at the halfa, taking shots as he did. Karkat swerved around, throwing blasts of his own powered by his sickle. The ghost buckled Nebit opened a portal in front of it, causing him to appear back into the line of fire.

"Swing and a miss there, pal! Are you still tired after that long nap?" Karkat attempted a swing with the sword as the ghost passed once again to obtain it. He missed, but it got him to back off. "Maybe you should take another one. Losing sleep isn't exactly great for people, much less ghosts."

Fright Knight, as if angered by the insinuation, suddenly boosted in speed, grabbing Karkat before he could react. The halfa felt a death grip form on his arms as he was slammed into an island back first, causing him to groan.

"Well, this is a little too close for comfort." Karkat immediately dodged a punch, having it land inches from his head. "Maybe it's time to switch things up a bit."

Karkat felt an idea form in his head, changing into his human form instantly. The light of the transformation was able to catch the ghost off guard long enough for him to grab Fright Knights shoulder, his human body phasing through the rock. A good portion of the knight ghost followed him before he let go, phasing through what was left.

Karkat transformed again, flying quickly as the group formed up. He pointed towards the island Fright Knight was phased into, a shout forming on his lips.

"FIRE!"

Every ghost immediately sent rays of ecto-energy the knight ghosts' way, Terezi and Redglare morphing into their dragon forms to breathe fire. The combined energy was able to cause a large amount of power to fall onto Fright Knight.

However, it felt like it was being pushed back as something of equal power fought against it, a beam of energy coming from the ghost. Despite the overwhelming power from the ghosts standing with Karkat, it was being pushed back by the knight.

The next part happened in seconds.

As Karkat put his all into firing ecto-energy at Fright Knight, he didn't feel the sword disappear from his grasp. At the last second, the battle was seemingly going their way as the wave of power was blasted into the island, destroying it completely.

And then Fright Knight flew right towards them, sword in hand as he swung into, cutting into Karkat's side.

The halfa didn't even know what hit him as his vision was overtaken by purple, and then black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before any of you start, I know I'm evil. I'm now starting to understand why people love using cliffhangers so much!
> 
> Don't worry, though, he isn't dead. Just a lot things he'll go through when he gets back. I hope you're ready for it.
> 
> Either way, I'll see you all next chapter!


	27. A Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, sorry to leave you all on that cliffhanger, but it was needed. Don't worry, nobody died, but that doesn't mean Karkat won't have something to see when this is all over.
> 
> Hopefully you all enjoy and that you have a nice day!

_Visions swam in and out, one after another, hitting him all at once. Some filled with pain, others suddenly going out, some remaining in the middle. In some cases, he-_

_ **-didn't know what hit him. He'd just turned around and saw a blur of scales and sharp teeth, a hit that was way too deep. He couldn't see his face, wasn't sure if he saw scars-** _

_-so many scars. Each vision showed wounds that healed, all while showing the one that wouldn't have time to. The merciful ones didn't seem so until draw out ones were shoved into his face. In some of them, he couldn't even get-_

_ **-out, he needed to get out. That weird music was following him again, lilting in the air, mad laughter following it. That asshole was around here and if he didn't get out, he'd either be trapped or-** _

_-dead. Dead, dead, dead. More than he even was currently. God, why were there so many ways to die? Some of them weren't even heroic, some were just tragic. Why did-_

_ **-that little bastard do this? Acting like he's a goddamn king. Little shit thinking he's Simba, wearing those artifacts. He hoped the town fights him better than he did. He really hoped that dad-** _

_-was in some of them. Sometimes the cause, sometimes just there to watch. Always a flash of light right after, victory turning to horror. He really wished he wouldn't look. His face turning into that always made him feel like-_

_ **-he was unraveling at the seams, disappearing completely. What the hell was happening to him? This didn't feel like dying, this felt like he was being wiped away. He needed to get that thing off that guys hand or else he'd-** _

_-leave everyone behind. He could see his friends all around him, all crying and weeping. He didn't want to see that either. He wanted to tell them to stop crying for him, there was more important things to deal with. He just wanted to-_

_ **-scream after scream followed, hitting him at full force. It hurt to hear, he needed to make it stop. Needed to shut the other one up before he hurt anyone else. His ears were bleeding, though, and he couldn't make it-** _

_-stop. He needed to make this stop before he lets it take over. He wasn't become another one of that asshole's victims. Fright Knight couldn't get into the human world. Amity Park wouldn't fall without a fight, especially from-_

_ **-the portals. They just kept pouring out, from all corners, punctuated by the mad laughter of the ghost. A cane slammed down onto him, throwing him into the masses, choking him under their weight. He could feel his eyes close as he suffocates. It takes all of his might to try and-** _

_-WAKE UP!_

* * *

Karkat knew he must've been in human form because his heart is racing as he jerks into consciousness. He takes in deep breaths as the visions eventually start to drain away, only vague impressions staying as he tries to will down the heart attack he nearly has.

It takes every inch of willpower not to swing out at the hand trying to hold him down. His vision still wasn't focused, so he couldn't tell who it was. There was a glow, so it was obviously a ghost. They were trying to speak to him too.

"-fucking hell, calm down!" The voice finally came into focus along with his vision, seeing Vriska. "Jesus, you practically had a seizure. Give yourself a few minutes, you nutjob."

"Where am I?" Karkat questioned between breaths, lungs feeling unusually sore. "Did Fright Knight escape? Where is he now?"

"Not that I actually care, but I'm pretty sure I said you need to calm down." Vriska formed a small block of ice in her hand, shoving it into his. "Cool off with this. Your face is really fucking red."

Karkat complied if only to get her to cooperate with him. The ice was almost a shock to his system, getting him to focus on that while the rocker ghost sat up, waving to somebody in the distance. It gave him enough time to realize where he was.

It looked like he had been transported to an island not far away from their original fighting spot. The place was barren like all the other islands, though he could see some small lairs out in the distance. Fright Knight was obviously very far gone at this point, though a lot of the people that joined them on their raid were still there. He could see Nepeta and Terezi separating from the pack, heading towards them.

"Well, looks like someone's awake." Terezi was trying to sound gentle, but her eyes kept switching from his face to where he got sliced. "Scary few minutes there, not gonna lie. Feeling any better?"

"No." As much as Karkat didn't want to rude, they were on a limited timetable right now and he couldn't afford mincing words. "I'm guessing Fright Knight got away in the confusion. Please tell me he didn't head towards the portal."

"You'll want to hear from Team B on this." Nepeta gave him his phone, along with a flask of purified ectoplasm. "Please drink this. If you're going to keep going, you need to be in better shape."

Karkat did as she asked, pulling up Ghostian. He saw some messages were waiting to be read, which set him on edge, but it looked like everyone was posting regularly.

CG: HEY, HOW'S EVERYTHING GOING AT THE PORTAL? IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT?

TA: fiinally you fuckiing an2wer! we heard you got 2tabbed!

AA: y0u've been 0n radi0 silence f0r nearly five minutes! is everything 0kay?

Five minutes? Shit, that wasn't good. A lot can happen in five minutes, especially with a ghost like Fright Knight running around.

CG: DRAINED, BUT FINE. HOW'S EVERYTHING ON YOUR END?

ML: WE'RE FINE! A LITTLE SHAKEN UP, BUT WE'RE OKAY.

LP: w3 m1ght h4v3 som3 b4d n3ws, though, l1ttl3 dud3.

HZ: 8=D We're afraid to report that Fright Knight might've escaped containment.

That little bit of news made it feel like an ice spike was shoved into his heart. Thankfully, before he could immediately change forms and head straight towards Amity Park, the chat was updated further.

HZ: 8=D That's the bad news. The good news is that he seems to be holding on attacking the town thus far.

TA: horu22 ha2 a drone followiing the guy around. 2o far, he'2 ju2t patrolliing the place.

ML: WE'RE SORRY! WE WERE READY TO HOLD HIM OFF, BUT HE CAUGHT US BY SURPRISE.

LP: w3 s3t up som3 d3f3ns3s, but h3 just bl3w th3m up. d1dn't 3v3n s33 wh3r3 h3 c4m3 from unt1l 4ft3r th3 wr3ck4g3 h1t.

AA: we d0n't kn0w h0w l0ng he's g0ing t0 keep flying ar0und, th0ugh. he might get tired 0f sc0ping things 0ut and attack s00n.

CG: THEN THAT MEANS WE HAVE SOME TIME. WAIT FOR SECOND.

Karkat took his eyes off his phone, switching his attention to Terezi. "Pyrope, that book you showed us earlier said that Doom Aspects were able to seal Fright Knight, right?"

"Pretty much. Kept copies of the ritual everywhere to make sure he couldn't stay out if he escaped." Terezi remembered that her mom had a copy too, despite not believing it would ever be useful. "We can't read it, though. We need to…"

There was a brief moment of realization before Terezi started flying off in the direction of her home. Karkat didn't have to wonder why she did, turning his attention back to the phone.

CG: I THINK I HAVE A PLAN.

* * *

"This doesn't really seem like a good idea." Tavros looked nervously around himself, keeping away from the Aspect wheel in the middle of the buildings. "Are you sure this might work out? There's only two of us compared to, uh, twelve Aspects."

"It's than nothing. If we didn't have to rush out to try and stop him, we would've done this before." Nebit watched the proceedings from far off. She apparently didn't like the feel of this place either, the skyscraper like structures bothering her. "We don't have a lot of choices here, so it's up to you two."

The two in question were Tavros and Vriska, the only people who didn't have any stated Aspect. Horuss had revealed himself to be already been a Void Aspect, leaving these two to be their only hope right now. Aranea would've joined if it wasn't for the fact families tended to trend with one Aspect.

The others had decided to keep an eye on Fright Knight and, if needed, provide some resistance if he attempted to attack Amity Park. The only ones that held back was Nebit, Aradia, Sollux, and obviously Karkat.

"We just need to step on each one and they'll light up. Nothing much else to it." Vriska sounded nonchalant about the process but appeared just as hesitant to make the first move. "Do you think we'll have to, y'know, pledge ourselves?"

"Hopefully not. If you have to, we might just have to find another way." Karkat had the document that Redglare and Terezi lent him carefully held in his hands. Looking at it gave him a headache since all he could parse was floating letter and swirling script. "If not, we need to head out immediately."

"We do need to hurry, though. Fright Knight still hasn't attacked, but he is starting to get slower." Aradia kept an eye on Ghostian, getting updates every few moments or so. "He could start rampaging on the town at any time and we need to trap him before he does."

"Yeah, that doesn't pressure them in the slightest." Sollux tapped his foot on the ground, pacing lightly. "Let's just get it over with. I really don't think this is going to work."

Despite the negative words, it did get Vriska to finally move forward. She dropped her feet onto the floor, taking tentative steps around the dais to keep an eye out for the glow. There wasn't anything at first, even when she finally stepped over the Doom symbol, but it did light up eventually as she walked over the sun symbol.

"Light. Determination, Luck, and Information." Nebit shrugged, keeping the disappointment out of her voice. "Not a bad Aspect to have, but not what we're looking for. You're next, Pupa."

Tavros sighed, the pressure falling completely on him now. He was really hoping they'd luck out before they got to him. He forced himself to touch the ground, making his own round with shaky steps.

This time, the answer came a lot sooner. Before he even made it halfway towards the Doom symbol, his foot stepped onto the bright blue symbol showing a small wind flying upward. The group felt their hopes drop as Nebit explained.

"Breath. Motivation, Freedom, and Self." Nebit suddenly really wished she hadn't stayed back. Her daughters were probably in serious danger now. "This isn't good. Nice to know, but it isn't good."

"Well, _sorry!_ I can't control this stuff." Vriska's mood took a turn, swinging right into irritation. However, it was clear to everyone this was born out of fear more than anything, knowing that they didn't have a way out now. "Maybe I can mess with our chances here, but I don't think that'll help a lot."

"Maybe we still have time!" Tavros looked really guilty, waving his arms as he tried to think. "We could try and find some other ghosts that could help. I mean, I don't know any ghosts other than you guys, but maybe you guys do? I don't really know."

"We don't know any other ghosts. The fact we even know so many now is kind of a miracle." Aradia's positivity was dying down fast. A part of her considered that maybe she should text her parents about this, feeling startlingly out of her depth. "And, again, we're on an invisible time limit."

"…Can humans have Aspects?"

The question caused everyone to turn to the person in question, turning out to be Sollux of all people. The nerdy human raised his hands defensively, asking them to hear him out.

"Considering some of guys here are pretty much just dead humans, I'm not too far from being an actual ghost." Sollux didn't seem to fully buy his logic, but he figured he should share his thoughts anyway. "Humans should have an Aspect thing too; it just doesn't appear since we don't have ectoplasm."

"That's right!" Karkat suddenly felt so much better with that explanation, the possibilities also interesting on an academic level. "I'm not even a full ghost and I have a Blood Aspect. Again, not very high chances, but it could work."

Everyone looked to Nebit, who was frowning as she looked at the dais. She bit her lip, a fang almost breaking open the skin before she sighed loudly.

"That also might mean you'll have to pledge yourself to your Aspect since you can't use passively." The adult didn't really like the possibility, especially since they were kids. They had lives to live, nothing that should be wasted for some invisible entity or thing related to this place. "Are you willing to put yourselves through that just to take Fright Knight down?"

"We'll do it together and help each other out with it." Aradia was reinvigorated by the new possibility. Hell, if it ended with them getting powers of their own, it would be even better. "We might get lucky since we're not ghosts or anything."

Nebit didn't look happy about that, but considering the other options were either to fight Fright Knight fruitlessly or let an entire town get destroyed, she figured that it would be okay. She'd just have to keep an eye on them.

"Fine." Nebit motioned for the two humans to try it out, still reluctant when it came to the possible consequences. "I'll help you recite the oath if one of you happens to be a match, but only then."

Aradia only nodded while Sollux eyed the circle with some suspicion. The two moved closer to it, both stopping at the edge. They gave each other a brief look as the situation dawned on them, causing them to take deep breaths.

Aradia, predictably, was the first to go. Whether by confidence or anxiety, she walked quickly in the circle to find her Aspect quicker, if it would even work at all. Their answer came when she stepped onto the red symbol of a gear, having it light up before them.

"Time. Decay, inevitability, and death."

The description caused everyone to wince, the triumph of Sollux's theory being trumped by the wrong Aspect lighting up. Sollux, as gloomy as the rest, moved forward afterward, avoiding Aradia as she stared at her symbol with a dazed expression. He honestly didn't expect much of his either, which is why he kept a steady pace as he walked.

That pace stopped dead as the Doom symbol finally lit up from under him.

"Doom. Tragedy, Misfortune, and finality." Nebit looked almost as disappointed as she was relieved. "Congrats, kid. Wish the prize were a lot better."

"God dammit, of course it's me." Sollux covered his visor with his hands as he sighed, already exhausted by all of this. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I knew something like this would happen."

"Just what a Doom aspect would say." Aradia tried to joke, though she looked as nervous as he did. Her eyes wandered to the Time symbol before she smiled wryly. "At least we're doing this together. Might even get some sweet superpowers out of this."

"I'm doing it too." Karkat's interjection caused the humans to jump, sending them some weird looks. "What? You thought that I was going to let you do this alone?"

"Uh, shouldn't the only one of you with actual powers avoid doing this, though?" Vriska waved at the buildings with a hint of disdain. "Might not be a good idea to let you go and become a zealot, taking one of you out of the running."

"That is pretty risky. I'd definitely like to keep myself under control of myself." Tavros, despite having the confirmation making some of his powers make sense, didn't see any reason to boost his powers. He hung out with kids after all. "Maybe just sit this one out?"

Karkat would've agreed with them, but there were two reasons he wanted to do this. The first was that since his first two friends were deciding to do this for the town, he wanted to make sure to share the burden. He couldn't let them do this alone.

As for the second reason…

_Tales of a sword that, if it cuts you and you survive it, will show you your imminent death…_

Karkat had seen so many ways he could die while doing this shit. He wasn't willing to go through all of them, especially the bloodier ones, especially to everyone else. Fright Knight was the most immediate threat, but it looked like there'd be so many other ones that could easily overpower him.

Pledging himself to his Aspect was risky, but it meant that he could get some more power out of it. Something he obviously needed if this was going to be the path he took.

"I need to do this just in case." Karkat shrugged off the doubts, moving over the Blood symbol and setting his feet onto it easily. "You never know what might come out next, so new powers would be a good thing to have."

And since Karkat had a faint idea of what was coming, he desperately needed anything he could get.

"Alright," The moment passed, Nebit deciding that they might as well keep this all going. "Repeat after me, slowly."

All three of them sarcastically held their hands up, one at their chest and the other in a scout's salute. Nebit didn't bother correcting them in that they didn't need to do it. She started, letting them repeat right after her.

"When life ends, and the ending starts,"

"_When life ends, and the ending starts,"_

"May death wash away our horrid sins,"

"_May death wash away our horrid sins,"_

"And our devotion may begin."

"_And our devotion may begin."_

A small light started emanating from below the teens. This caused a pause to occur, the oath almost forgotten before Nebit hastily kept going. Vriska and Tavros gave each other weirded out looks as they kept watching, suitably creeped out.

"Through the beginning of Time, in farthest reaches of Space,"

"_Through the beginning of Time, in farthest reaches of Space,"_

"Where we find Light in the Void, and Heart melds with Mind,"

"_Where we find Light in the Void, and Heart melds with Mind,"_

"May our Rage burn low, and Hope arise again."

"_May our Rage burn low, and Hope rise again."_

The lights grew brighter now, a tendril forming from each occupied space. It slowly rose up behind each person on the dais, stopping when it was behind their necks. The ones involved did their best not to flinch, while the others felt a bit of worry form. Nebit didn't seem to flinch, having seen this before.

She did take a moment before stating the two final lines.

"And when memories Life are replaced by visions of Doom,"

"_And when memories of Life are replaced by visions of Doom,"_

"May our Breath be let out, and the Blood will flow."

"_May our Breath be let out, and the Blood will flow."_

It was the final utterance of the chant that the tendrils of light made their move. Shooting suddenly into the backs of their necks, the humans and halfa were instantly paralyzed by the feeling. It wasn't quite painful, but they could feel a light burn form there, a brand that made their pact real. To everyone else, they could see each person's eye glowing as bright as the tendril holding them in that spot.

Almost as soon as the branding started, the tendrils were out before any of them could do anything about it. The lights began to recede, fading away, along with the lights in the participants eyes.

As all of them instinctively rubbed at their necks, Nebit moved to Sollux without a word. She handed the dazed boy the transcript with the binding ritual.

"Can you read this, kid?" Nebit desperately hoped that she didn't let three kids do this for nothing. Her nerves spiked as Sollux narrowed his eyes at the parchment. "Anything at all that we can work with."

"…I can read it. Language is fucking weird, but I can read it." The human sighed, turning towards the others. He waved the paper at them with a wry smile. "Alright people, let's get this bastard."

They didn't waste any time getting the hell out of there and heading to Amity Park.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to reach Amity Park, something that was an immediate blessing. Other than having to navigate through some wreckage that was apparently around the portal (just as the old guard described it), it wasn't difficult to find where the rest of their group was.

Though, the news was troubling to say the least.

The good news that much hadn't changed in Fright Knight's aggression, having held off from attacking the town in any meaningful way. He hadn't noticed any of them or just simply didn't care enough to make it obvious.

The problem was that he'd slowed down and hunkered down in an old factory not far from the town, most likely to make the final decision on what to do next. The place was far enough so they most likely wouldn't run into anyone here, but that was the only good thing so far. Everyone had the feeling that if they didn't move in now, he'd attack the town at any moment.

Karkat would've felt nervous about the assemblage of ghosts standing near the factory, but they headed towards the back, away from the road. That still didn't mean he kept checking around them just in case.

"Alright, people!" Redglare had taken back the leadership role as soon as everyone arrived. She looked around at the assemblage of ghosts with wary eyes. "I really don't like how I have to rely on teenagers here, but since we're mostly out of time, this'll do. At least I know some of you have experience."

There were some chuckles from the Serkets at that, which was silenced immediately by a glare from the judge.

"We're going in there in teams while Sollux and Aradia stay outside to finish the ritual. The range of it should be wide enough as long as we keep Fright Knight near the buildings perimeter." Redglare tapped her cane against the floor, pointing at the building with a grimace. "Let's get this started, everyone. Can't waste any time right now with all of these things on the line."

The ghosts and halfa all mingled together, quickly deciding on teams as Aradia and Sollux watched on. Aradia gave her friend a bitter smile before putting her attention back on the ghosts.

"I'd feel left out if Fright Knight wasn't such a terrifying bastard." Neither of them had taken off the hazmat suits, something she regretted now. The heat of the human world was making them both sweat like dogs. "They get to do the cool ghosts hunting while we hang back to as emergency backup."

"We still got weapons. It's not like they're trying to keep us out." Sollux kept reading over the lines of the paper, frowning deeply. "Besides, we might get superpowers if this ritual doesn't kill me first."

"Oh, come on. You said it yourself that it won't hurt you or anyone else. You just have to repeat it and we'll hopefully be done." Aradia watched the ghosts disperse, surrounding the building. The familiar anxiety settled in, making her smile disappear. "Looks like it's showtime. You ready, Sollux?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Sollux smoothed out the paper, opening his mouth before shutting it. He gave Aradia a nervous look. "Hey, AA? Mind doing something for me if things go south with this thing?"

"Anything."

"Knock me out if this does something." Sollux chuckled, though it was obviously out of stress. "I'm pretty sure that something involving ghosts is going to do something to us, but I want to make sure it's on my terms."

Aradia actually almost felt relieved at that. Guess she wasn't the only one worrying about all of this. "I will. You don't need to worry about that at all."

Sollux didn't seem to believe her, not fully, but enough to just nod and put his eyes back to paper. He looked over the first few lines before closing his eyes, lips thinning into a line before he started to speak.

Aradia almost complied with his request when he opened his eyes only to show that they were black.

* * *

Karkat was extremely stressed out by now. Understandably so, though he shouldn't have felt like that. Especially since they had the plan up and running.

Maybe Vriska being her usual self would distract him. Not to mention he was still hanging out with Nepeta's mom.

"So, that offer to flirt is still on the table if you want it."

"Kid, stop. Though I will say I'm really flattered.."

Or not. Glad to see they were learning to cope with impending doom like he was.

"I thought we already had this conversation. Nepeta doesn't want us flirting with her mom." Karkat rolled his eyes, shifting through walls slowly. There was a lot of rooms in this old factory, so they decided to just go in sections to save time. "If you want, you can flirt with Redglare. I mean, she's technically you're parole officer in a way…"

"Yeah, not happening. Terezi might actually me if I do." Vriska floated towards Karkat, moving close enough to actually touch him. She did, poking at the back of his neck with narrowed eyes. "By the way, feeling any different from that power boost back there? Planning to preach to the choir after all of this?"

"Not really. I'm glad that I'm not, but I expected something to happen." Karkat rubbed the spot she poked, the place still sore after the pledge. "I'm guessing it's a delayed reaction or something about my Blood powers being weird. We'll see sooner or later."

"Hopefully later. I've had other friends try that, and it's always been risky." Nebit didn't look like she wanted to talk about it, deciding to change topics. She looked around at the factory buildings with slight wonder, humming to herself. "Been a while since I've been outside the Infinite Realms. I wonder what changed while I was gone."

"Oh, so you aren't native to the Ghost Zone." Karkat had been wondering that. Redglare also struck him as being as being an actual undead ghost rather than native, but he hadn't found a way to ask politely. "Guess there's some things you've missed."

"Yeah. Hopefully, I'll get some time to actually check it out." Nebit laughed, though neither of the kids laughed. She sighed, rubbing at her eyes a bit. "Are you sure you want to do this again? I know that our job is mainly just hit him from far away until he's sealed again, but I don't think you can tank two hits from his sword. You shouldn't have even had to take one."

Karkat knew that her concern came from a good place, one out of worry that someone her daughters age was doing this, but he wasn't having it. He chose to do this; he wasn't going to back out now.

"I'll be fine. It's not the first hit I've taken from some creep in armor." Karkat shrugged. At least the fact Skulker was in Redglare's hands meant he wouldn't be dealing with said creep for a while now. "I'm pretty good at distractions, anyway. Aradia's pranked the whole school enough times that I've gotten it down to a routine."

"Well, hope you're a lot better at dodging then." Vriska cackled before flying a little ahead. "Let's see if that Black Knight rip-off will stay down long enough to…"

The rockstar ghost trailing off while bragging obviously set them off. The halfa and ghost moved forward to move next to her, finding themselves in the center of the factory, a wide-open space that reached wall to wall.

And Fright Knight was waiting for them.

All in attendance grabbed their weapons. Vriska was ready to signal everyone to move to their position while Nebit had her claws out. Karkat got his own sickles out but didn't raise them just yet. Fright Knight just stood there, sword tip touching the ground as he looked at him.

"…You were expecting us." Karkat didn't know why, but he felt like he should speak to him, but it felt appropriate to try. Maybe this could end bloodlessly. "Surprised you didn't just attack us before we got here."

"_**I was waiting to speak to you."**_

The voice caught them off guard, making them pause. The voice wasn't loud, but the gravel and the power coming from it pierced them. It sounded exactly like the voice of a man who could make armies bend to his will with not only confidence, but fear.

Karkat gulped before moving a little ahead, speaking slowly to not stutter. "What do you mean?"

"_**I've seen a million futures involving you."**_ Fright Knight spoke with certainty, picking up his sword. He looked at the blade with faint curiosity, as if it were telling him something. _**"You will fight many different battles with many horrible foes. In most of those fights, I see you die like a dog. In some, you stand triumphant beyond all others. Some include me."**_

Karkat's interest was piqued, having so many more questions to ask. "And what does that tell you exactly?"

Fright Knight paused before raising the blade upwards, pointing it at the three of them. It glowed brightly before them, poised to attack.

"_**That I'm either the first step to your destiny,"**_ Fright Knight said finally, gravelly voice getting quieter. _**"Or your doom."**_

Karkat could hear Vriska hit her guitar hard, the signal loud enough for everyone to hear as the blast was let free from the blade.

* * *

"Jude, can we please go home. It's getting late."

Joey Claire didn't know why her brother wanted to visit an old factory late at night, but she was starting not to care. She just wished she could get back into her warm bed and enjoy the weekend tomorrow. But her brother, as per usual, decided to change those plans

"Negative. If we don't do this now, we might miss the cult meeting." Jude kept checking the battery life of his phone, making sure it would last. "I think they might move soon if I don't. Have to hurry up."

"It's not a cult, Jude, I'm pretty sure it's just seniors hanging out to drink or something." Joey rolled her eyes fondly, though with slight irritation. "Worst thing we're going to find is some people fooling around. We still have time to turn back before mom decides to come looking for us."

"She thinks we're at a friends house right now." Jude had that prepared just in case. At the look he received from his sister, he had a feeling she didn't approve of the lie. "I had to tell her something! Otherwise she wouldn't let us go."

"Yeah, because we're barely in high school and going out to an abandoned factory!" Joey sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her brother was going to get her into trouble, she swore on it. "Look, we can look at it over the weekend. At least then, there won't be any seniors to mess with us and we won't have to lie to mom."

They hadn't been far from the factory when she could hear a loud strum of a guitar. She felt validated at the sound, thinking that it proved her point.

"See? Just other teenagers messing around." Joey and Jude stopped, the sister crossing her arms smugly. "Now let's just head home before-"

The wall to the factory burst open, cutting off the girl mid-sentence. Dust came out in a large cloud and something flew near them, hitting the ground hard. Whatever it was still kept moving though, cursing up a storm.

"You alright kid?!"

The unfamiliar voice snapped Joey out of her shock, causing her to grab her brother's arm. The fact that the something responded, with an echoey voice no less, caused her heart to race.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Hurts like a bitch though!" The dust had settled, the thing revealing itself to be Karkat. Of course, Claire's didn't recognize him, only seeing a glowing, floating guy moving upwards and rubbing at his head. "Keep visual on Fright- oh shit."

Karkat noticed the kids, eyes going a little wide as he checked them over. The kids just gaped at him, shivering at the sight of red eyes with no pupils looking over them carefully.

"Shit. This looks bad. This looks really, really fucking bad." Karkat held his hands together, pointing at his mouth before pointing at them. "You're the Claire's kids, right?"

"Y-yeah." Jude nodded, taking pictures without realizing it. He watched the _floating thing_ as he looked to side before tensing. "How do you our names?"

"Unimportant. You two need to get out of here right now." Karkat held his hands up before they could speak again. "Don't ask why, just run. There's something dangerous here that you don't need to see."

"What's dangerous?" Joey tried acting brave for her brother's sake but felt her voice shake. "Who even are you?"

"K- Phantom." The halfa cursed inwardly at the instinctive response before shooing them away. "Now please, hurry up and leave, otherwise…"

The rest of the sentence trailed off as Karkat noticed Fright Knight, thankfully still in shadow, started stepping out of the hole he made in the factory. He instinctively fired a shot at the knights' legs, causing him to stumble slightly.

Karkat, hand still alight with ecto-energy, turned towards the two kids again.

"_**Go."**_

The change in his voice caused the two to run, making him feel only slightly guilty for it. He focused his attention back on the knight, a sickle held tight as he swiped.

The amount of green energy that hit was more than he'd usually put in, making the knight block. He was hit in the back by some ice powers, keeping his feet to floor while Nebit appeared in front of him, kicking him hard in the stomach. It sent him back into the factory, crashed following him.

Karkat swooped back in, making it fast enough to Redglare fly above the prone Fright Knight, breathing fire. The knight got up quickly, pulling a shield out to block as he fired at the judge. The shots missed, causing debris to fall.

Wind started to pick up, causing the dust to swirl around him before he could fire more. The fire stopped, allowing the dust to cover the knights vision. Tavros's distraction allowed Karkat, followed by Nepeta and Aranea, to begin throwing shots at him unimpeded.

The shots themselves only did minor damage, some blocked while other hit. Fright Knight growled in frustration before swinging his sword upward, a wave hitting the ceiling. Part of it collapsed, causing everyone to scatter on instinct.

Everyone took a step back as Fright Knight turned, getting the scope on the situation. The only confirmation they had that the ritual was working was a faint golden glow was starting to form around his arms, inching farther up.

"Keep it up!" Karkat shouted, shooting ecto-energy out of his sickle again. "This'll be over before we know it!"

That was the wrong thing to say, as Fright Knight decided to go on the offensive again. Dashing forward, he sliced his sword at Karkat, making him focus on dodging. After several swipes, Fright Knight sent a kick to his stomach, sending him through another wall.

Karkat cursed loudly again, not liking this stupid goddamn trend. He heard another assault start up inside the factory again, though his attention was taken from that when he heard…

…Fuck, was that _Sollux?_

Karkat caught his friend's eyes, black and void of anything as he kept talking. Sollux's voice was seemingly layered with several others, each speaking the same words, but in different languages. It all came out garbled, though it kept in track with each line.

"And let the wicked come to rest once more, right hand of Lord English." Sollux didn't have an echo of emotion on his face. "Otherwise, the world be left to doom eternal if someone does not stop him."

His awe was interrupted as he felt the clanking footsteps of Fright Knight knocked him back to reality, forcing him to blast once again. While the ghost was able to fend off that one, the beam of ecto-energy that hit him right afterward sent him right back in.

Karkat caught one look at Aradia, who simply motioned for him to finish it off before getting back into position to protect Sollux. The halfa didn't take long to comply, if only nodding to thank her.

It looked like the glow wasn't only trapping Fright Knight but getting him weaker as time went on. Some of the blasts were knocking armor off of him, bit by bit, exposing pale flesh beneath it. Karkat noted that he wasn't attacking anymore, just focusing on staying alive long enough to escape.

With a growl, the halfa figured enough was enough. He flew forward, tackling him as hard as he could, getting his hand on the sword. Before the man could get back to his feet, Karkat made sure plunge the sword into his exposed shoulder.

Karkat could see purple suddenly flash in the ghost's eyes, almost making him feel remorse considering he had his own dose of this not that long ago. The man didn't so much as twitch, however, the swirling power only making him go still. The halfa almost thought he was double dead if it wasn't for the sealing spell going much quicker around his body.

"What do you fucking see, Fright Knight?" Karkat knew it was petty but fuck it. This was only fair. "Who gets the honor of killing you?"

For a brief moment, Karkat figured his taunting broke the spell as Fright Knights eyes calmed, looking into his. The gold shimmering took him over, head to toe as he said the last words.

"_**Only my king will."**_

An explosion of golden light forced Karkat back, sword and all, which he only barely corrected himself. Blinking, he saw a similar coffin to the one they found earlier, meaning that the spell worked.

He barely felt himself breathe as he heard some whooping and hollering. He felt a hand land on his back, almost causing him to stumble over.

"Jesus kid, and here I was doubting that this would work!" Nebit looked over the coffin, her daughters happily checking it out with her with loud laughter. "Took down a living legend today. Can't believe I got to be a part of it."

"We'll get the coffin into the Infinite Realms now. Can't spend much more time out here." Redglare took the sword from his grasp, carefully handling it. "Get your friend some rest too. Looks like he's going to need it."

Karkat dully looked over to see Sollux stumbling in, held by Aradia. Terezi went over, grabbing them both up and floating them upward. He could already see some of the ghosts going through the hole in the roof.

He started heading up to join them, though stopped when he came outside of it. The forest not far from the factory seemed to have some people in it.

He saw the people in robes again, wearing their signature colors. Red, Yellow, Blue, and Black were joined by more people this time, however. A pink one, a purple one, a green one, and light yellow one were with them this time, as if enjoying the show.

The bigger one, the one in gray, didn't seem to join them this time.

"Hey, Karkles, you coming?"

Terezi's voice made him look away, the draconic girl giving him a weird look. He looked back to find the robes gone, his chest feeling empty at their absence.

"Sorry. Spaced out." Karkat sighed, chalking this up to another weird thing he'd have to figure out later. "Let's head on home."

Maybe he really was going crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, again, a lot of stuff to come. And it looks like Fright Knight already knows some of the things that might happen.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoyed the little 'cameos' the kids had. It won't be the only time you'll see them, but give it time. They'll come along eventually.
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter and that you all have a nice day!


	28. Paternal Instincts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While this may have come out on time for you guys (probably) I actually had this ready on Christmas. I figured this is a late present for some of you who've been reading thus far. Hopefully it's a good present for all of you!
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

Karkat figured there'd be some kind of ramifications from the fight with Fright Knight. Considering there was a strong possibility of gaining more powers after making a borderline warlock pact, the fact he saw himself die in many possible ways, and the fight had more collateral damage than usual was one part of it.

The more immediate one, though, was the fact that he now had a goddamn tattoo on the back of his neck. Something that Aradia and Sollux now shared with him.

"Jesus Christ, I figured I'd get my first tattoo after one of you pushes me to do it after we turn twenty-one." Sollux griped, poking at the brand. It looked much like the Doom symbol, grayed out compared to the rest of his body. The other two's tattoos were similar in design, each with their own symbol in the same color. "Then again, a cult ritual was my second guess, so I probably shouldn't complain."

"I think it looks nice. Wish it were the same color as the symbol, but I'd say it's at least tasteful." Aradia could only shrug, giving the mirror back to Karkat. "Probably shouldn't say anything to our parents, though. My dad is cool with some things, but I'm pretty sure he'll kill you both if he figures out we have tattoos now."

"Yeah, like how we got them isn't already bad enough." Karkat kinda liked it too, but the fact this was related to the borderline religion of the Ghost Zone did irk him a bit. It was a brand, pure and simple. "If that's the only weird thing to happen because of our pacts though, I think I can stomach it."

"We all know that isn't he only weird thing that's going to happen." Sollux rubbed at his eyes, grumbling to himself. "I'm not the only one who had some weird dreams last night, right? I don't remember them, but they definitely kept waking me up."

"I don't remember having any dreams last night. Which is weird because I usually dream every night." Aradia didn't seem bothered by that fact, but she did spare a pitying glance towards Sollux. "Anything happen to you last night, Karkat?"

The halfa almost wanted to mention that his sleep was either interrupted by nightmares or the Box Ghost appearing in the middle of the night but decided to keep that to himself. The fight with Fright Knight may have been a win by all accounts, though that didn't negate the fact Karkat knew he could die ten different ways on their way to school.

"I slept fine. Box Ghost kept coming out of the Ghost Zone, but it's not like he's hard to deal with." Karkat shrugged, fighting down a shiver. He still needed to make time to research that guy's origin if only to let him get some more sleep. "I'm just hoping that today will be a normal school day."

Karkat realized he said the cursed words once again. Wishing for a normal school day always ended up causing it to be anything but, something he knew by now, but kept engaging in.

And this time, the monotony was broken up with a text on his phone.

With a certain amount of dread, he looked at the screen with a sigh. A text from Eridan, containing a link to a website. One that he was familiar with and run by a someone who he'd had the pleasure of running into in his goddamn ghost form.

"Guys," Karkat sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose with annoyance. "Jude's website made an update."

The halfa would admit that he'd forgotten some very important elements of the fight due to how hectic it truly was. In all fairness, the fact he even remembered everyone's part in it was a miracle. To say the least though, you couldn't really blame him for forgetting about the Claire kids.

That turned out to be a costly mistake as Karkat was now looking at a picture on Jude's blog showing him as Phantom floating a good deal off the ground. It wasn't the best photo in the world, but it was clear enough to show it wasn't something that most people would find late at night during a nice walk.

Goddamn it.

"How the fuck?!" Sollux pointed at the phone with narrowed eyes, looking at Karkat accusingly. "KK, when the fuck did you become the next Bigfoot? I don't remember that Jude kid being around the place when we were fighting Fright Knight."

"That's because you were catatonic while reciting old magic from a religion of the dead." Karkat didn't even feel anger or fear at seeing the photo. All he could feel was exhaustion as to what trouble it was probably going to bring his way. "They were near the factory that night and I may have talked to him and his sister after jughead threw me through a wall. I forgot about them because I was, y'know, trying to stay alive."

"Okay, this isn't great," Aradia ran a hand through her hair, looking through the blog post. Skimming through the ramblings, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved to see the familiar rants of the eccentric Claire kid. "But Jude isn't exactly considered the most stable kid in the world. Not a lot of people follow his blog, and this looks like something they'd call fake pretty easily."

"That'd be true if Joey hadn't been with him. She saw me too and I doubt she's going to deny it." Karkat shrugged, trying to hold on to a little hope. "Or maybe she'll stick to her guns and try to deny it all the way. Dad has met some pretty big skeptics before, and she does seem like the type to just keep it all on the down low."

"I don't know, man. If she saw you, she might not be a skeptic anymore." Sollux noted the bus heading their way. "Guess we'll just have to see when we get to school."

Karkat groaned softly to himself before moving on to it. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

* * *

In a rare twist of events, Karkat had been half right. Depending on how you looked at it, the situation may have been a good thing.

On the downside, everyone had read Jude's blog and his ghost self's face was being shown everywhere. However, everyone was treating it like a joke and was memeing the _fuck_ out of it.

Despite the fact Joey was doing her best to help her brother, Tethis had gotten a hold of the blog post and decided to make the damn thing a meme to everyone that looked at it. Karkat couldn't help but feel thankful for that, even if it was literally the worst person he knew that did it.

Of course, this had the unfortunate consequence of Jude nearly ranting in the middle of the cafeteria, his sister trying to stop him from drawing too much attention to himself.

"Why would I, of all people, doctor these photos?!" Jude waved a printout of the picture at the retreating form of another skeptic. "I literally posted it minutes after taking it! How are none of you paying attention to this?!"

Karkat almost felt sorry for him, especially since it reminded him of his dad talking to skeptics himself. He would've done something about it if this literally didn't have everything to do with his secret identity.

At least Jude had got the name right. He would've hated being stuck with some weird, made up name like Inviso-Bill or something.

"So," Eridan moved to sit beside him, a lunch tray hitting the table with a little bit of clatter. "There's been some interesting stuff online lately."

"I'll say. Was that really another ghost or is that Jude guy really into movies?" Feferi moved to sit near Eridan, surprised at the empty table. "Where's Aradia and Sollux?"

"In the library. They need to finish up a project they've been working on." Karkat shrugged, not envying them. It was really them just writing and copying down the notes on ghosts they'd made during the Fright Knight debacle, and he'd been left behind to keep an eye on Jude. "And yeah, I don't know. I heard some stuff happened at that factory he mentioned, though, so he might not be completely off."

This reminded him to thank Feferi at some point for not ratting about the existence of ghosts. Of course, she'd met one while they were on a hunt that none of them were allowed to be on, so that was fair.

"Hm, shame. It would've been nice to hear their thoughts on it." Feferi hummed. Eridan looked ready to disagree with her, causing her to bop him lightly on the head. "Don't say anything stupid. You said you had fun on that ghost hunt."

"Doesn't mean I don't find that Captor guy really annoying." Eridan had the decency to look embarrassed at Karkat for saying that out loud. "No offense to you, of course."

"Don't worry about it. I've been friends with him for years, I know what he's like." Karkat took a sip of the cafeteria milk, frowning as he realized he got the wrong kind this time. "What's up with you two, anyway? Things have been pretty busy on my end, so I'd like to hear something new."

"Mom's been talking to a few businesses in the area and planning on investing into some." Feferi shrugged, not particularly interested in the idea. "She's probing around before deciding on buying up a place or two and keeping the workers. Even looking into real estate, which is new for her."

"My dad's actually been wanting to talk to yours for a while now." Eridan jumped at the new subject with earnest. His eyes seemed to light up at that. "I think he wants to help fund your dad's research. He actually seemed pretty interested in it."

Karkat paused at that, parsing out that some hidden meaning behind it. Eridan most likely believed Oberon wanted to a portal so they could check out the Ghost Zone themselves. Maybe it would also get them to know more about ghosts in general, making sure they got closer to their 'heritage,' or something.

The halfa could only barely guess what he'd actually want it for. A part of him wanted to just say that it wasn't possible since Spades got most of his funding from the government, but a part of him knew that wouldn't fly if Oberon went around him for it.

"Any idea on how he plans on convincing my dad? He can pretty protective over his research." Karkat figured that would throw him off, if only a little bit. Spades was legendarily paranoid about people trying to steal his research. "Hell, you saw him share it out of spite earlier. I don't even know he's going to mention the hover car to anyone yet."

"…I'm sorry, did you say- never mind." Eridan had to pause, the revelation of that taking him off track. "He's heading over later today. Says he has plans for something later this week that might help convince him."

"I think I might call mom too. If he's serious about the hover technology, she might finally decide to invest in vehicle companies." Feferi brought out her phone to text her mom about this, mind abuzz. It seemed like she was taking the last statement as a joke. "She's still weirded out by the portal thing, but maybe that'll get her interested in the place besides money."

Karkat figured he shouldn't have mentioned the hover car, but he thought that he wouldn't believe him. Maybe he shouldn't have said that to the people that were present during his dad's unveiling of the ghost portal.

Shit. Hopefully, they'd put it off.

* * *

Both of their parents had decided to come in today. Why did Karkat choose to have hope for anything? Why did the world love proving him wrong?

"…I genuinely thought you were joking about the hover car."

"Who said I was joking?"

Karkat had to watch as his dad excitedly introduce the concept of the flying car to the astounded Feferi and semi-freaked out Crocker. No talk about investments was made yet, Feferi had just joked about the thing and Spades dragged it right out. He even told him they could give them a quick run around with the thing to prove that it worked.

That had happened ten minutes ago, and they still hadn't touched the ground yet.

"Well, I suppose the automotive industry is going to be revolutionized within the next few years." Oberon watched as Feferi whooped with excitement and Crocker was going from cursing to laughing every few minutes. "Probably the air travel industry too. Has he talked about how he's going to use it to get across the oceans yet?"

"He's still trying to figure out the base fuel requirements for that to work." Karkat felt his eye twitch as his dad did a particularly risky spin. "Not to mention how he'd get that past every countries air and space commissions. Much less America's."

"Judging from his driving, they might just disqualify him for that alone." Eridan winced at another round of cursing from Crocker, which only got Spades to laugh a lot more. "You think he's going to stop anytime soon?"

"If he thinks that he has a point to prove, he'll take as much time as he needs." The halfa was relieved to note that it wasn't much longer, as Spades began touching down. "Might want to help them come down from the motion sickness. Car and air sickness might kick their ass as soon as they touch down."

Eridan jumped at that opportunity, most likely to look good in front of Feferi. Oberon stayed back, something Karkat expected. The younger halfa cracked open his soda, waiting for the older one to start whatever spiel he was going with.

"I've been hearing some interesting things online lately. Something about a 'ghostly apparition' wearing a gas mask floating around that ruined factory." It wasn't a question. Oberon had pulled out a flask from somewhere, taking a drink himself. "Anything I should now about?"

"Bit of a problem happened in the Ghost Zone. Spilled out into the human world a little bit." Karkat didn't plan on mentioning much else. He highly doubted Oberon had been a part of it, but he didn't plan on risking it. "Things got a little out of hand there, but it's been dealt with."

"Seems like it was a bit more out of hand than usual. I checked the place out myself and it looks like whatever got out did a number on the place." Oberon's voice was layered with concern, looking over the boy quickly. "I'd be more scared if you'd appeared more hurt from it, though. I guess it wasn't too difficult for you take down?"

"Yeah. Didn't really get in any good hits." The throb of a phantom injury begged to differ, but Karkat pushed the thought down. "I'll need more firepower later on. It was a pretty tough fight."

"One that I think would be good if we decided to go forward on some training." Ah, there was the subject he wanted. Didn't really have to wait long for it, did he? "It seems like you've been hesitant to take me up on it."

"It's not that I'm hesitant or something," Karkat struggled to come up with a good enough lie to take that heat off of him. He probably should've put more thought into this already, but he'd hoped this would come later. "There's just a lot on my plate right now."

It wasn't a lie at all, honestly. School was only getting tougher as time went on, the pressure from the scientific community was breathing down dad's neck. That wasn't even getting into the ghost hunting he was getting into at night.

Oberon seemed to understand that, or at least play along with it. He watched his son closely as he tried keep Feferi from falling, Crocker talking to Spades at length about something.

"I can understand why you're reluctant, you know."

"Huh?" Karkat was surprised at the interjection. "What are you talking about?"

"About me just me, you know, showing up." Oberon didn't seem to mind whatever it was he was thinking, talking about it like he was talking about the weather. "To you, I just apparently showed up out of nowhere, by chance, with no prompting whatsoever. I'd be suspicious about all of this too.

"You know how my accident was. It came all of a sudden, changed me completely, and ended up dictating a good amount of my own life." The older halfa shrugged. "Very much how it happened with you. If I were in your position, this would all seem very fortuitus and unbelievable."

"…it really is." Karkat did know how feeling. He figured if it wasn't for Skulker accidentally blabbing on that radio, he would've felt that suspicion at some point. "I appreciate everything you've talked about, but-but it was all at once and terrifying. Acknowledging that his isn't going away."

"God, I would've given anything to have the whole ghost thing go away, especially at your age." Oberon chuckled, somewhat bitterly. "I suppose I came on strong with the offer to help you. I was just so excited to know there was more of me in the world. And not just what I helped create either."

The older man sighed, putting the flask away. "I'm planning on getting your father up to a local cabin to talk about business over the upcoming three-day weekend. I was hoping that we could talk about some things further there. Start over, perhaps. Would that work?"

Karkat took his time to think about. Oberon didn't know that the other halfa knew of his less than stellar past, so that was a plus for him. That did get in the way of things a little, especially since it made Oberon shady as all hell.

…But then again, maybe he never considered looking at it from his side. Oberon did say how scary of a situation this all was. Karkat had lucked out on having a ghost scientist as a dad and portal in his basement. Not to mention running into friendly ghosts willing to explain some things to him when he needed it.

Maybe the crimes int the Ghost Zone were a way to find out more about himself that he couldn't do normally? That some of the shady business stuff was to help support himself during what was probably very long time in the hospital? He could only imagine the fucking bills he got afterward.

…They'd have to talk about it. Karkat could probably convince him to cut some shit out and they'd start from there. The halfa didn't want to lose the chance to know another person that went through this crap, so some concessions would have to be made.

"I'll go." Karkat shrugged, figuring that he should make the next step too. "Good luck convincing my dad to part with anything willingly, but I'm willing to talk things out. Slowly this time."

"I appreciate it." Oberon did smile this time, nodding along. "It'll be good to finally smooth things over. Once and for all."

Karkat shivered at those words but didn't really understand why.

* * *

It turns out, it was completely easy to convince Spades to go up into the forest to spend the weekend at a nice cabin. He hadn't made any promises to let Oberon or Crocker invest into anything, but they got packing the same day to help start things up.

It was weird, honestly. Karkat actually couldn't help but feel giddy about it, in a way. Despite the shit that had been going down, things might actually begin to look up if the things go right on the trip. Of course, they could go wrong too, but that was lower on the spectrum than anything else.

One thing he didn't account for, though, was being stuck in the car with his dad for a good while. Which normally wouldn't be a problem if Karkat didn't know there was a fuck ton of ghost hunting of equipment in the back.

"Still can't believe Oberon of all people still wants to invest into my shit." Spades tapped the steering wheel, deep in thought. "I get that it's all fucking genius, but it isn't like he'd take an interest in it. It's not exactly his forte."

"Maybe he just wants to have a hand in advancing science or something." Karkat shrugged, doing his best to ignore the beeping in the backseat. He thanked the fact he'd picked up that necklace once more, otherwise all of the trackers would be going nuts by now. "It's not like he can't stop it. Might as well join it while he can."

"Not exactly that simple, kid. I'm still surprised that he even came to the ceremony, much less stay here at all." Spades frowned, remembering something unpleasant. "Especially since we might actually have to deal with ghost attacks now. I don't know if that Jude kids' stuff is legit, but it'd be a good idea to look into it."

"Or not. I heard the kid tends to focus on cults, so he might be blaming it on them or something." Karkat really didn't want to venture into that conversation. He figured it would be better to turn it to a different one. "Why are you so surprised Oberon is nice to you, anyway? He doesn't seem like a bad guy."

Spades winced, trying to find the words to say. It looked like he gave up halfway through, slouching in the driver's seat a little bit.

"It's complicated. Some stuff happened in high school that I couldn't really take back and neither could he." The man gave a half-shrug, not sure how to continue this. "There's some things you can't really reverse, no matter how much you want them too. I figured Oberon would still hold some things against me. Not like he wouldn't have the right to."

"You make it sound like you murdered his family in cold blood. What did you do that would get that kind of reaction?" Karkat already did, but that was something that bothered him. Oberon would've definitely gotten help from his dad if he'd told him about the half ghost thing. "Who stopped talking to who first, anyway?"

"…Hard to say." This really wasn't something Spades didn't want to talk about, apparently. Karkat couldn't help but feel disappointed by this. "Anything concerning at school I should know about."

"Not really. People still look at me weirdly, but I think people are getting used to the idea of ghosts now." That wasn't a lie either. The initial panic, at least within the town, was beginning to subside. The both of them were still expecting a letter from the Catholic church saying they were excommunicated any day now, but that was another matter. "If anything, it's better than ever."

"Your generation has been traumatized too much." Spades grumbled. It was a with a chuckle, though. One that got caught short when he noticed a flamboyantly pink car stopped at the trail. "The hell?"

They stopped the car instantly at the sight, Spades already getting out. Karkat dully realized that the two people standing outside of it were Feferi and her mom, looking at something in front of the car. Thankfully, it didn't appear to be serious judging from their expressions.

"Hey, Crocker!" Spades moved ahead, trying to get a good look at what they were looking at. "Something fucking wrong here? Can't imagine you're standing out here for fun."

"There's a tree in the road." Crocker didn't wasn't thrilled with this predicament, holding a cell phone at her side. "I called some one to try and get it out of the way, but I don't know how long it'll take for them to get here."

Karkat instantly relaxed at that, leaning back onto the car. He could actually see the tree right now, realizing that, yeah, it was definitely big enough to block the road. It wasn't huge, but it probably couldn't be taken down by some random schmoes without a car.

Karkat wondered if his ghost half could pick that up no problem. That thought changed to something a little more somber.

Should he tell his dad about his ghost half now? Or at least after this little thing in the woods is over? At some point, he was going to have to mention it, with shit getting more serious as time kept going on. The halfa wasn't really sure is his father could reverse the whole ghost thing, but maybe he could help with the side research. The whole halfa thing provided so many rich opportunities that Spades wouldn't be able to knock off.

He'd gotten lucky so far that his dad didn't suspect anything and that the whole superhero deal hadn't affected his life too much. It was bound to do something to his social life, one way or another, and he couldn't just hide it from everyone forever. For fucks sake, he was breathing smoke out right now and _wait a fucking minute._

Karkat quickly clacked his mouth shut, getting off the car swiftly. Eyes sweeping around the tree line, he tried to see whether there was anything glowing in the distance or outwardly threatening to take care of. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but ghosts weren't ordinary anyway, so that meant nothing.

A tap on his shoulder caused him to whirl around. Feferi just blinked at him with a confused little smile on her face.

"Well, looks like someone has something on their mind." The girl chuckled before tilting her head a little bit. "Mind sharing with me? I think I can keep a secret."

"Nothing much." Karkat bit back the instinctual urge to stutter, swallowing down the caution. "Just thought I saw something in the trees."

"Oh, is a deer nearby! Been a while since I've seen any of those." Feferi tried to look where he had been, squinting into the inherent darkness of Amity Park's forests. "I figured this place would be too cursed to have anything in it."

"You'd be right. Amity Park doesn't really get a lot of forest animals, even during spring." Karkat felt a pull, his ghost sense trying to lead him to a certain direction. He tried to subtly glance towards it without the girl noticing. "That's why I'm concerned. Hopefully it's a deer and not some stray dog pack."

"I'm sure they'd straighten out with a good shelter. I don't know if this place has one yet, though." Feferi clapped, a thought occurring. "Maybe I can try and start one while I'm here! I've been dying to have a project to do and that seems like a good place to start."

"Yeah, sounds perfect." It really did, but Karkat would've been a lot more interested if they weren't possibly in danger right now. "Maybe the mayor would approve that."

Feferi did frown a little at his apparent disinterest, trying again to find what he was looking for. "Are you sure you're okay? You look the kid that cried-"

A loud howl cut her off, echoing in the forest through every tree, piercing every living thing within it. It bounced off, surrounding the four people in the street as it pounded into their ears, causing them all to physically wince.

Worst of all, Karkat could tell that echo was partially ghost like.

"-wolf? Was that wolf?" Feferi did seem alarmed now, keeping her hackles raised. "What would a pack have to do around here?"

"I don't know, but I don't think I want to find out." Karkat instantly moved towards the back of his dad's car, shouting out. "Dad, open the trunk! If that thing has friends, we could scare it off with a lightshow real quick!"

"Fuck, sure! Let me get keys out!" Spades frantically went through his pocket, Crocker pulling out a taser. He wanted to question that before just shrugging and grabbing the key fob. "It's unlocked!"

The halfa felt a surge of hope at that, making it to the trunk easily and grabbing the handle. He swung it open, grabbing at the top suitcase and doing his best to open it, desperately trying to remember the combination.

He was about halfway to opening it before he was tackled by something, a big and furry thing taking him down and making him hit the pavement. The halfa didn't know what hit him, dazed enough for him to close and open his eyes several times to make him focus.

He was met with the wrathful glare of a giant wolf looking down at him, pinning him down with prejudice. It growled at him lowly, the sound echoing in the forest much like the howl did, making Karkat's bones vibrate. Its fur was unstained, black, and coarse, but shining under the lowered sun's gaze.

A scar was over one of its eyes, but that didn't diminish the obviously supernatural glow buried within it. And the absolute hunger and anger within it as well.

"Shit." Karkat mumbled.

This trip had officially gone south before it even began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karkat is never allowed to have optimism, ever. Look at where it gets him! Maybe that's why he's such a grumpy little ass, it'll get him killed if he's positive about anything!
> 
> Anyway, sorry there's not a lot of action in this chapter, but this is mostly set up for everything that happens next. Hope you enjoy it anyway, even those that sense what's coming next.
> 
> I'll see you all next chapter!


	29. Cabin in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Another part of this messed up story is coming into play, needed to let it go forward. Let's get it started!
> 
> See you all at the end of the chapter!

Karkat stared into the gaping maw of the ghost wolf and wondered why the hell his life was like this. Going on a trip to a cabin in the woods was only meant to go wrong in horror movies, not in real life.

"_Oh, right,"_ Karkat dully thought, rearing his legs up, placing them beneath the wolf's chest. _"I'm half dead. This already is a horror movie."_

Karkat kicked his legs straight out, knocking the wolf away from him immediately. As it launched away, hitting the ground hard, he rolled backward, landing on his feet. The wolf recovered slowly, fur bristling as it got up to glare at him once again.

Karkat took a look to his right, noting the back of the car was open now, weapons ready to be picked up. He could hear his dad and Crocker rushing, most likely to check on what was going on. Feferi was watching, still in shock at the quick turn of events.

"Get a weapon from the trunk!" Karkat turned his eyes back to the wolf, red eyes meeting its scarred ones. He'd have to keep its attention on him until they could properly fight back. "And hurry! This thing _really _wants to take a bite out of me!"

Karkat had to force himself not to use his ghost powers right there and then. Too many witnesses, and he didn't want his dad to see. He did wave at the thing, though, making sure it didn't stray.

"Hey, ugly!" Unoriginal, but it made sure to catch its attention. "Not sure where your pack is, but I'm pretty sure they left so they couldn't see your mug. Your breath might have helped with that too, though."

Again, not exactly profound, but he didn't need his best material to catch the wolf's attention. It growled loudly again, rattling his bones to their core, before charging headfirst at him. It leaped, trying to tackle him again. Karkat rolled to the side, the thing landing beside him.

Karkat was able to whirl around, punching the animal in the face before it could recover. Stunned, the wolf couldn't counter the kick to the stomach he gave it to it, causing it to skid backwards.

Unfortunately, Karkat wasn't as adept fighting on the ground as he was in the air. He stumbled after the kick, the wolf taking the opportunity to slash at him with its claws. It missed the first time but slashed at his jacket during the second attack.

The wolf lunged forward, attempting to capture one of the halfa's arms in its teeth, but missed by inches as Karkat jumped back. The halfa reach into a pocket, waiting for the beast to strike again. He didn't have to wait long as it tried to bite at him once more.

Karkat pulled an ecto-knife out of his pocket, slashing it across the wolf's snout. The thing howled again, the sound pinning Karkat where he stood as its pain filled cries nearly deafened him.

He didn't have to wait long for the thing to quiet down, as several shots from an ecto-gun rammed into its side. Karkat put some distance between him and the wolf, sighing in relief as he saw his dad and the Peixes shooting at it with wild abandon.

The wolf figured it was time to move then, the numbers being shifted out of its favor. It howled again, causing the shooting to stop before retreating into the forest. Karkat could hear his father curse loudly, putting the gun down before heading over to him.

"Kid, are you okay?!" Spades stopped, checking over the boy. He looked relieved when he didn't find any serious injuries. "Jesus, I don't know who taught you to fight like that, but it sure as hell wasn't me. I can't believe you punched a wolf."

"Punched and slash at it." Karkat looked over the knife, doing his best not to touch the blade directly. It dripped ectoplasm, which he was afraid of. "I don't think that was a normal wolf. This sure as hell isn't blood."

"Really?" Spades looked over it himself, eyes lighting up a little. "Ectoplasm? You got attacked by a ghost wolf? I didn't know animals could turn into them."

"Yeah, me neither." Karkat lied, not willing to explain the fact he'd run into smaller, less threatening ghost animals already. "Well, you might have to adjust some theories then. Animals do have souls."

"Tell that to cats." Spades could see a truck coming in. He gave his son a playful shove, pointing at the car. "Baggie that thing and hang out with the Peixes. You did good at there, but I'm gonna check you out properly after we get that tree moved."

"Got it." Karkat was already moving towards the car, handling the knife carefully. "Make it quick. I don't know what to say to them."

Spades just nodded, heading over to Feferi and her mom. Crocker was busy looking over one of the weapons with some visible interest, while Feferi was on the balls of her feet. When he got close, she moved forward, looking him over.

"That thing hit you pretty hard. Are you sure nothing's broken?" She didn't seem convinced by his shrug, frowning slightly. "At least you were able to get it away from here. That thing looked ready to bite your head off."

"Where the fuck did that thing even come from?" Crocker turned the ecto-gun off, putting it back into the trunk. "I'm gonna guess that whatever it was, it wasn't native around here."

"It sure as hell wasn't. Literal ghost dog." Karkat grabbed a plastic bag, putting the knife into it. He made sure to replace it with an untouched one immediately. "I'm not waiting for it to come back, though."

He was certainly going to figure out where the hell it came from. No way in hell that thing appearing was just a coincidence.

* * *

The local forest service was able to move the tree with little effort, meaning that they could finally move forward. Other than a warning that they heard something howling in the area, they didn't say much about what happened. Admitting that they fought a wolf ghost probably wouldn't fly, even with the world's only ecto-scientist to improve it.

Once they got that out of the way (along with a quick physical done by Spades), they were all allowed to move forward. Something Karkat was glad to see, as he dying to actually make it to the cabin.

When they finally did, though, it was very clear that it wasn't a small one.

Karkat was ninety percent sure that it was a mini resort, standing at about three stories and with plenty of windows. Fashioned to look mostly like a log cabin, it was connected to several outer buildings in a similar fashion.

It was certainly a place that they'd never been to before. It was a cool looking place, but he wasn't sure how to feel about this show.

He didn't have time to think on it more. Oberon was finally making his entrance, moving out the front door with apparent worry.

"I got your texts. Is everyone alright?" The concern was obvious, though not entirely warranted. "I honestly didn't know there was any wildlife around here, especially something as dangerous as wolves."

"There shouldn't be. This place can't support anything like that." Spades waved the baggie with the knife in it somewhat proudly. "Whatever it was ain't alive. Or maybe it never was. Which only raises a lot of questions."

"Wherever it came from, it's long gone, though." Feferi punched Karkat in the arm lightly, smiling. "Karkat kicked its ass before it got too close."

"It attacked you?" Oberon's face twisted into something unreadable for a moment before settling. "Well, that's unfortunate. It doesn't look like you got hurt."

"Nothing except my jacket. Damn thing tore a small hole into it." Karkat fiddled with it, annoyance clear on his face. "One of my favorites too. At least I got my shots in."

"I think I'll feel a bit better when we get inside the cabin." Crocker moved forward. She still had one of the guns for safekeeping in case that thing came back. "Feferi, keep a gun on you. I'd rather not have that thing try to chew us out."

"I will!" Feferi patter her own ecto-gun, grabbing onto Karkat's arm. "C'mon, let's go find Eridan. He might start sulking if we leave him alone for too long."

"Roger that." Karkat sent a look his dad's way, giving him a nod. "Don't overwhelm Oberon with tech talk too much, okay dad?"

"No promises!"

Karkat rolled his eyes, figuring that Oberon was safe enough for now. Feferi tugged him away, which he only followed willingly because he needed to find Eridan. He'll need to know about this ghost wolf thing immediately, along with his dad.

Despite the size of the place, it was pretty easy to find him. He was just playing on his phone, most likely waiting for them to get here. He'd probably be doing the same thing in his position.

"Thank god, finally you guys got here. I've been wondering what the holdup was." The rich boy put away his phone, annoyance turning to confusion when he noticed Karkat's torn jacket. "Trying out a new style there, Kar?"

"Nah, we just ran into a ghost wolf. And yes, I just said that with a straight face." Karkat shook his head, mentally reassessing his life. "I beat up a ghost wolf today. What is the world coming to?"

"Something awesome, apparently. I still can't believe you were able to keep that thing back." Feferi noted the kitchen was nearby, heading towards it. "I'm going to get us some drinks. Today was stressful and we haven't even got to the business stuff yet."

Feferi did head on into the kitchen, letting Karkat breathe out a sigh of relief. He gave the other boy a serious look, arching an eyebrow. "I probably shouldn't need to tell you we might have a problem here."

"Getting attacked by wolves usually isn't something you do for Saturday nights. Much less an undead one." The Ampora did look disappointed at the prospect, though strangely excited too. "Are you sure it's really undead? Could've been some weird genetic experiment."

"It bled ectoplasm after I hit it with a knife, so I'm pretty sure it's a ghost wolf." Karkat wasn't sure if he should confiscate the knife later or not. Probably shouldn't, especially since his dad looked ready to frame it. "We weren't able to capture it, though, so it's just running around in the forest right now. Not sure if it'll attack anything else."

"Well shit. That certainly isn't good." Eridan's eyes wandered to the nearest window, as if to find it. He didn't see any sign of it just yet. "Do you think it attacked you because of the whole… well, y'know."

"I have no idea, but I'm hoping that's the case. At least we'll know where it's coming from if that's it." Karkat wasn't really happy about that, but it did make sure nobody else got caught in the line of fire. His dad certainly had plenty of weapons if he couldn't tie this up before the weekend was over. "Feferi and Crocker armed themselves at the very least. Looks like my dad is going to get the investment from her after all."

"Joy to the world." Eridan moved back into his seat, frowning softly. "Are we going to do anything about it? I don't exactly want to wait for that thing to attack again."

"I'll try and catch its attention sometime tonight. You stick around here just in case it decides that I'm not a good enough target." Karkat wanted to ambush the thing as soon as possible. The less damage it could do, the better. "It shouldn't be any different than any other ghost so far. At least this one can't think too much."

"You just jinxed yourself. Do you always do that?" Eridan did seem happy to know that there was a plan in place. He fully relaxed by then, tapping his fingers on the table. "At least that's covered. Anything I should look out for?"

"A big, black, hairy wolf with glowing eyes. Has a scar over one its eyes and probably a new one on its nose. It can thank me for that one." Karkat chuckled, though it died down when he noticed a strange look flit across Eridan's face. "Something wrong, Ampora?"

"Nothing. That kinda sounds familiar, honestly." Eridan's look of confusion was a little concerning. He was doing his best to remember something but wasn't sure what. "I've never seen anything like it before, but that really does sound familiar."

"What sounds familiar?" Feferi finally came back in with their drinks. She picked out a strawberry soda for herself, grape for Eridan, and cherry for Karkat. "Still focusing on the ghost attack?"

"Yeah. Hope that doesn't become a trend around here." The irony of the words wasn't lost on Karkat, especially since they were becoming common. "My dad would be busy putting in security systems if they did."

"Wouldn't that make him rich? I'd think ghost attacks would be good for business." Eridan dodged a swat coming from Feferi, snickering. "Hey, I'm right! Supply and demand are a thing, and you know it."

"Don't remind me. I get enough from those economy lessons my mom made me go to." Feferi huffed, hair ruffling up. "I have to go through another one of those lectures, I swear I'll explode."

Karkat watched the two banter quietly, sipping his soda cautiously. The moment was nice, and he didn't feel like ruining it, so he kept to himself as he thought over what he'd do tonight.

…He was probably going to make some calls later.

* * *

GC: SORRY, W3 H4V3N'T H34RD OF 4NY GHOSTS W1TH TH4T D3SCR1PT1ON B3FOR3.

AC: :33 my family usually doesn't deal with animal ghosts unless we're protecting them from skulker.

Well, the ghosts were a bust currently. He honestly didn't expect much, considering this could be just some random ghost, but some kind of information would've been nice.

AA: i'm still h0lding 0n t0 the the0ry that it's a church grimm. then again, there isn't a graveyard in that area.

AG: Shocker, the goth girl had a Wiccan phase. Anything else you want to share with the class here?

TA: fuck off, vrii2ka, nobody even iinviited you iinto the group chat. what are you even doiing here?

AG: It's either this or mess with Tavros. And since he wouldn't stop whining to Aranea, I can't do that anymore.

AT: i WASN'T WHINING, i JUST ASKED YOU TO STOP THROWING ME AROUND AND TELLING ME TO BELIEVE IN FAIRIES,

Adding the other ghosts was possibly a mistake, especially with Vriska around. He seriously wondered why he let her have a phone if this was what she was going to do with it.

Karkat had been patrolling the area surrounding the cabin to see if the wolf would appear again, using Ghostian to keep himself entertained. He hadn't had a hit yet and he was hoping someone would find useful information before he saw it again.

So far, it was just bickering and some interesting chatter from everyone else. Which wasn't exactly the most useful thing in the world.

CG: YOU DO REMEMBER THAT I'M OUT HERE RISKING MY LIFE FIGHTING A DEAD WOLF, RIGHT?

GC: WH3N 1S TH4T 4NY D1FF3R3NT TO 4NY OTH3R D4Y FOR YOU?

CG: NOT MUCH, BUT I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO REMIND ANYBODY.

AC: :33 we kmeow, we kmeow. it's just kind of a normal thing by meow and we've gotten good at kicking random ass already.

AG: Fright Knight was a lot more interesting than some dum8 dog. 8esides, I want to hear what you have to say a8out the whole Aspect shit. Any weird cult stuff following you around?

AT: i'M ACTUALLY CURIOUS ABOUT THAT TOO,

TA: nothiing two diifferent, hone2tly. 2tiill waiitiing for 2omethiing two actually kiick iin.

AA: i'm alm0st disapp0inted, h0nestly. i was h0ping f0r s0mething m0re than just being able t0 read s0me text.

AT: yOU WANT WEIRD CULT STUFF TO HAPPEN TO YOU,?

AA: n0. but at least it w0uld warrant the drama 0f the cerem0ny and everything.

AC: :33 you guys are weird. then again, you do hang out with dead people.

GC: B3 C4R3FUL WH4T YOU W1SH FOR. YOU N3V3R R34LLY KNOW WH4T'LL H4PP3N WH3N YOU DO. :]

CG: :]? IS THAT HOW YOU MAKE SMILY FACES?

GC: H3Y, DON'T M4K3 FUN OF M3? 1T'S FROWN3D UPON TO M4K3 FUN OF 4 BL1ND G1RL!

AG: Yeah! Don't 8e a jerk Phantom!

AT: oH GOD, tHEY'RE WORKING TOGETHER NOW,

Karkat rolled his eyes, turning his phone off for now. He'd get back to that mess later if he couldn't find anything out tonight. Maybe he could get Tavros out if the weekend passed with nothing happening. The guy did mention that he worked with animals when he was alive at some point and maybe that would help them out later.

God, he had weird friends. He wasn't sure if some of them could be called that yet, but the fact he even chose to hang out with them certainly made him question his own sanity.

Then again, most of them had started out of convenience, need, or made using a devil's deal. So really, the world was just weird and pushed him into making strange friendships with people due to being a Blood Aspect.

He was still waiting on some weird powers to start developing based on that. Hopefully Sollux was wrong about the bloodbending thing and he'd be able to avoid having to use that. He was already half dead; he didn't need any more edgy powers at his disposal.

There was the fact that Blood Aspects were basically about relationships in a way that made those fears go to rest. Did that make him better at making friendships than a normal person would? It'd explain how he's been able to keep any the past couple of years. Though that was hard to translate to powers. Blood Deals are a thing, but what else?

…Maybe he could tell who was related to who?

Karkat decided to stop then. He wouldn't be able to figure shit out just by doing nothing. He actually needed to experiment.

He closed his eyes, doing his best to clear his thoughts. It wasn't meditation, but the quiet of the forest made it feel like he was. He didn't know what to look for, but he started counting in his head like his heart was still beating. Keeping up the rhythm, he focused mainly on that, hoping to get some kind of reaction.

…Nothing.

Hm, maybe he should change course. The halfa floated closer to the ground, lifting, and opening his palms. Ecto energy began to flow freely, expelling softly into the air around him. Keeping up a decent flow, he figured it would coax out something. If anything, it let out the nerves he'd been feeling since the wolf's attack.

…Again, there was nothing. Karkat kept it up longer, wondering if he should just ask the others for help. It would probably be easier than just throwing things at the wall, waiting for something to-

_ **Ba-BUMP** _

Karkat's thoughts stopped instantly, the feeling in his chest causing him to quiet. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like his heart had violently started once again. It was powerful enough to hit the back of his eyes, the energy stopping its flow.

_ **Ba-BUMP** _

Hitting again, Karkat's breath hitched. The beat caused something to flash across his eyes, something extending across his vision. He couldn't necessarily tell what it was, looked almost like strings stretching across the sky, moving far past the forest, spread everywhere. It pulsed to the sound of the fake heartbeat.

_ **Ba-BUMP** _

And just like, the strings began to solidify, quitting the blinking. Multiple colors stretched across his vision, each string having something unique to it. Some shone with two, others shimmered and changed before his eyes, but neither two copied the other. There were many that stretched across the sky, thousands upon thousands. For each string, there was an aura of a different color surrounding it.

And some of those very strings were connected to his wrist.

Karkat blinked at them curiously, surprised but somehow not alarmed by this. The strings weren't connected to anything physical, but they were definitely there. He would've been more concerned if they weren't seemingly stretching out to other places around him, which took up more of his attention.

He was a little weirded out at first until he noticed several of them were going through walls, some of which were where the others were sleeping. It took him a few seconds to realize what they were.

"Red strings? Seriously?" Karkat stared at them with a tiny glare. "That's one of my new powers?"

Karkat did read some fanfiction from time to time, even it was sparingly. Red strings were usually a sign of soulmates or something, or at least signified a deep connection. It actually did make a little sense due to Blood being a relationship-based power set.

He could actually tell where some of them led to. A purple one tinged with pale white floated closer towards Eridan's room, still new and fresh. A pink one, this time with a hint of red, was hovering around Feferi's. A very thin one, one so tiny that the color was impossible to tell, floated next to Feferi's. He assumed that was Crocker's since he didn't know her that well yet. Two strings leading to Amity Park, purely yellow and rust colored, were probably Sollux's and Aradia's. As for the two leading into the forest…

…Why were two of them leading towards the forest?

The two strings were a dark purple with dark blue and red one hinted with green, floating slowly farther away from the cabin. Karkat instinctively knew these two were Oberon's and Spades. He didn't know why, but he just knew.

He also didn't have any idea why those strings were leading into the woods. His dad didn't mention anything about heading in at dinner and he certainly would've remembered it. And what the hell was Oberon thinking? He should know better.

Karkat noted that most of the strings disappeared, but it was in the back of his mind as he followed the other two. He had to make sure those two weren't getting their asses killed.

[LINE BREAK HERE]

"You know, it's been a while since we've done anything like this. How long's it been?"

"About twenty or so years? The time really has gone by now that you mention it."

Karkat didn't know how long he had been flying, but their voices were the first thing he could track. He slowed, turning invisible. Despite the cover of trees protecting him this deep in the woods, he wanted to make sure his glow didn't give him away.

Taking some cover, he looked around the tree to see a somewhat familiar sight. Spades was currently setting up some surveillance equipment, putting up several sensors for the ghost wolf. The weird thing was watching Oberon fumble with the equipment himself, most likely not one for manual labor.

"I'm a little out of practice, I'm not going to lie." Oberon grumbled as a sensor continued to not comply with him. He sighed loudly, doing his best to not punt the thing across the forest. "That, or your equipment has gotten too advanced."

"I'd prefer the latter. At least that shows I'm getting better." Spades cackled, fixing up his equipment with practiced grace. It was clear who had been in the game longer. "Better than an old camcorder and some salt, that's for sure."

"I really don't remember why we thought that stuff would work." Oberon muttered to himself before clapping his hands together. "Okay! You're saying that all of this should help you find that wolf ghost, right?"

"Should be. I've tested out all of this equipment before and it's always responded to the portal from miles away. It should find a wolf." Spades bragged. Karkat was once again happy he grabbed that cancer sign necklace when he did. "If it doesn't show up again, I might just have to suck it up and camp out here."

"God, I remember trying to camp in that old, haunted forest back in our hometown. Worst night to pick too since it was raining." Oberon did appear to remember it fondly, despite some obvious complaints about it. "At least it's dry out here."

"What was our last hunt, anyway?" Spades scratched his head, trying to remember all of it. "I think it was when we found that ectoplasm for- oh."

The tension got awkward after that neither of them said anything for a few moments. Spades especially seemed guilty about it, trying not to look at Oberon directly. He did stop, as if he wanted to ask something before the other man finished up.

"I think I'll head back in for now. I know everyone's armed, but I think I'll feel better if I'm there for the others." Oberon started heading out before Spades could say anything otherwise. "Call if anything comes up. Can't have that thing getting too close to the cabin."

Spades did look put out by that but let him go anyway. He sighed, pulling out a magazine from a coat pocket and started to read. A plush seat awaited him so he could have time to relax.

Karkat winced, the atmosphere having gotten to him. He guessed that the topic of Oberon's accident was still an awkward one. He had been meaning to ask his dad about it, to finally get his side on it. Maybe even get Oberon to talk about it too. However, he simply never found the time because of the other shit going on around him.

Honestly, if it weren't for the wolf thing, he would probably get those two to talk it out too while they're here. If it went well, they could get to talking about the halfa thing. Maybe even have it end up with all three of them knowing what had happened and get things back on track for them and himself. Then they could keep the town safe with each other's help, not have it all placed on him.

It was a happy thought. A puff of smoke helped make sure that thought didn't stay.

Karkat didn't hear the sensors go off, meaning that the wolf ghost was still out of range for them. The halfa figured he should get out there before his dad got to it. This time, he was ready to take it down with all he had.

Flying quickly, phasing through the trees, he followed his ghost sense until it led him to another clearing. He was able to see the wolf treading softly, smelling the air from a distance. It hadn't noticed him yet. Reaching for the thermos, he attempted to undo the lid slowly to make it quick.

The damn thing squeaked, and the wolf had its eyes on him instantly.

Fantastic.

Karkat was already shooting before the wolf could react, pushing it back from the perimeter of his dad's sensors. The wolf was barely able to respond with, tanking a few hits before attempting to flee. Karkat gave chase immediately, blasting at it before it could get too far.

While some of the shots did seem to hurt it, they barely stopped it. One shot was able to hit the thing on a back leg, though, causing it to stumble. It crashed into a set of trees, causing one of them to buckle.

"What's wrong? Didn't want to go another round?" Karkat pulled out a sickle, twirling it before letting ecto-energy flow through it. "Surprised you even recognize me."

This was weird. The first time the thing tried to attack, it didn't mind going after him. Now it was running away? Something was up.

The wolf didn't respond to his taunts as it got back up, glaring at him. It opened its mouth, howling once again, making the halfa dodge. Its head followed his movement, waves of sound hitting and ripping branches off the trees.

Karkat kept moving, firing off several more shots in quick succession. After getting into a pattern, he immediately disrupted it by diving for the wolf. The halfa swung at it broadly, hitting it with the butt of the sickle. It sent it skidding back, wind getting knocked out of it.

The wolf simply growled, launching forward to tackle him. Karkat took the brunt of it but pushed back with all of his strength. Palms forward, hands on its face, he blasted it with even more.

This caused some significant damage; the fur being singed from the attack. The wolf stumbled, barely getting up onto its paws. Karkat figured it was close to being beat, pulling out the thermos again. He raised it to end the fight once and for all.

That was before the wolf stopped, ears raised, eyes widening before dashing off in another direction.

Karkat cursed, running after it again. He was still weirded out that it didn't try to kill him again, but that didn't make it less dangerous to let it run about. The damn thing was fast too, meaning that he needed to finish this now.

He didn't know how long the chase went, but it went on long enough to tire him out. The wolf was almost getting away and he couldn't let that happen now, never let it happen. But his feet were beginning to figuratively drag, and it was nearing the edge of his vision.

"…Noir? Noir!"

The voice stopped the wolf, along with the halfa, dead. The wolf itself moved once again, though calmly this time.

Karkat followed it, hoping that voice wasn't who he thought it was.

"Noir!" The wolf had made it to another clearing, the voice harsh and angry. "Dear lord, did you seriously get hurt again? Did you at least make it to the ghost hunter first?"

The wolf, Noir apparently, shook its head. It didn't look disappointed or fearful, even if it sounded like it was going to be punished.

"Damn it, of course not. What did you run into? The ghost kid again?" The voice growled as Noir nodded, a rise in power felt in the area. "I told you to keep him out of it! Hurting him is not on the table. Do you understand?"

Noir nodded a third time, the wolfs features still neutral. A light enveloped it, having it disappear instantly. The voice grumbled before starting to fade away, as if flying off.

"Can never get good help these days. Not even if they're dead."

Karkat could hear him fly off but didn't bother looking. He normally would've checked to be sure who it was, but the voice was enough. He couldn't help remembering the night that he met him again, hearing the same voice from the radio on Skulkers arm. And like that night, it was pointless to deny what was happening here.

Oberon was trying to kill his fucking dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is. While all of you were expecting it, Karkat now knows the ugly truth. We'll have to wait to see his reaction though. Hope all of you can handle the wait!
> 
> I'll see you all next chapter!


	30. Inhuman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! With this chapter starts a new arc in this little fic. Hopefully you all enjoy it and that it interests you in the near future. This is where things get a little darker from here on out.
> 
> This chapter does have a lot talking, I'll admit, but I tried to make it interesting. There is fighting in the end, so try and stick it out.
> 
> Anyway, see you all at the end of the chapter!

Breakfast wasn't exactly what anyone would call tense, but that's what it was for Karkat. For everyone else, it was a normal breakfast with friends, but the halfa didn't have that luxury due to simply existing like he does now.

Then again, it's probably pretty normal to feel this way when you figure out your dad has a man after his life.

Don't forget the fact that the man trying to kill him was in the same breakfast table with them, smiling like he'd done nothing wrong.

Yeah, this morning wasn't a good one in Karkat's book.

"Everything alright, kid?" Spades, plopping down into his own seat, breakfasts in hand. It was pancakes and maple syrup, the classic combo. "Looks like you didn't get much sleep last night. Insomnia acting up?"

"Nah. Always difficult sleeping in a different bed." Karkat used the mask of exhaustion to hide any emotion he needed to. Can't have Oberon turn on him in the middle of the goddamn morning. "You know how it is. Even if it's comfortable, it's still weird."

Total lie. He'd been awake a good amount of the night thinking about what he'd overheard, piecing it together with everything else he knew. Some parts of it made sense, but the rest didn't Why did Oberon want to kill his dad? Was it over the accident? Or was it something else?

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Eridan laughed a little, looking a little tired himself. He took a bite out of his pancakes, chewing thoughtfully. "I've been in a lot of hotels and no bed feels the same. Takes a couple of hours to fall asleep."

"You're just always fussy about where you sleep." Feferi flicked at the boy, giggling as he weakly glared back at her. "I remember you trying to keep the mattress to your bed when we were ten. The whole thing was falling apart, but you didn't want to give it up."

"It's not my fault I'm sentimental."

"She's right, you know. Your mother and I had to do this whole heist while you were away at school, changing it out before you could get home." The man chuckled softly, staring off into space. "We thought you wouldn't notice at all, but you practically knew it as soon as you came home. Good times."

Things got quiet at the mention of the story, but since Oberon didn't appear sad, nobody commented on it. Karkat noted it but ate his own breakfast quietly so not to ruin the mood. He wasn't going to do anything about that mess.

His phone buzzed, giving him some relief. At least he wouldn't have to stay for this.

"Hey, I'm getting a text from Sollux," Not a lie, and completely excusable as far as he was concerned. "I'll be back. It might be important."

"Okay, kid. Come back soon, though." Spades pointed at his plate of pancakes threateningly, eyes narrowed. "Otherwise you're going to come back to an empty plate."

Karkat rolled his eyes, the only genuine thing he's done all day. He went into the next room, pulling up Ghostian quickly. The message was from Sollux and it was a short one.

TA: whatever you're planniing two do, ju2t do iit.

Karkat blinked at the words, taken aback by the tone of it. This was a new chat, unconnected to virtually anyone else. It wasn't even connected to whatever they last talked about on Ghostian, it was just this singular message.

CG: EXCUSE ME?

TA: ii had a dream la2t niight. 2omethiing bad. ii don't even fully know what iit wa2.

CG: HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO ANYTHING? ARE YOU ALIGHT? HAVE YOU TAKEN YOUR MEDS TODAY?

TA: don't fuckiing patroniize me, kk. ju2t lii2ten.

The halfa frowned, a pit forming in his stomach. This wasn't how their banter usually went. His friend actually seemed serious about this.

TA: liike ii 2aiid, ii don't remember everythiing about the dream. all that ii remember ii2 that you diied.

TA: ii wa2n't actually there, but ii could 2ee you. you were mutteriing about how you 2hould've done 2omethiing eariiler.

TA: you diidn't 2ay what iit wa2 eiither. you ju2t kept talkiing untiil you faded out.

CG: WAIT, HOLD ON. ARE YOU SAYING YOU HAD A VISION?

CG: ARE YOU SURE IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE? YOU'VE BEEN HAVING THOSE LATELY, IT COULD JUST BE THAT.

TA: no. iit felt diifferent.

TA: iit felt a lot liike when ii wa2 readiing that doom paper. the one wiith friight kniight.

That was… not very substantial. Was Sollux's Doom powers kicking in? Karkat found out how to use his Blood powers, maybe his friend did the same.

CG: OKAY, FINE. I'LL DO WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO. MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO ARADIA, THOUGH.

TA: why?

CG: THIS COULD BE YOUR POWERS KICKING IN NOW. ARADIA MIGHT BE GOING THROUGH SOMETHING TOO.

TA: ii'll try. 2he'2 mo2t liikely 2leepiing by now, though. iit ii2 the weekend.

FAA: hurry up, karkat. times running 0ut.

The message caught Karkat off guard, the subject of their conversation butting in without warning. He almost responded before realizing the username was off, an added word that Aradia couldn't have added due to the character limit.

Future Apocalypse Arisen?

TA: aa? the fuck are you doiing up? what the hell ii2 up wiith your u2ername?

There wasn't a response for the next couple of seconds. The silence was eerie and the halfa's anxiety grew as it stretched on. He eventually decided to interrupt it before he went insane from it.

CG: I DON'T THINK THAT WAS ARADIA. CALL HER UP NOW. I'LL GET WHAT I HAVE TO DO DONE IN THE MEANTIME.

TA: you better. ii'm not watchiing you diie twiice.

The chat ended at that and Karkat was almost thankful for it. Everything about it struck him as weird as well as disturbing. He didn't know what kind of powers his friends picked up, but obviously they weren't completely powerless anymore.

He put his phone away, swallowing down any anxiety. He'd have to focus on that later, even if he couldn't help but worry over his friends.

Sollux wanted him to get this over with? He would.

He just needed a moment alone with Oberon to get this finished.

* * *

Oberon had made it throughout the day without incinerating that one eyed idiot in front of everyone. Quite honestly, that was a victory and there was no way anyone could convince him otherwise.

Talking about investments and what kind of things he and Crocker could expect to get in advance if they did invest. Spades still didn't seem to believe that they wanted to put their money into his inventions, but he seemed willing to play along for now.

That was good. The less he suspected, the more time he'd have to finally get this done.

Going into the office, he was prepared to call up that wolf again one final time. If it didn't work out due to continued incompetence, he'd have to find another way, but he was sure if he summoned the damn thing in Spades room, there'd be little that could stop it.

That plan immediately fell to pieces when the only other halfa in existence was sitting at the desk, looking at him like he already killed his father.

"Ah, Karkat." Oberon cursed in his head, wondering what the hell was the kid doing here. He didn't mind chatting with the boy, but this was a little out of left field. "I'm sorry, did you want to talk about something? I'm afraid you've caught me unaware here."

"Yeah, sorry about that." The halfa didn't look sorry at all, causing Oberon's smile to falter. "I just wanted to talk to you about that ghost wolf situation. I've seen that thing stalking around twice now and I'm starting to wonder where its coming from."

"Hm. It is a bit of a concern. I was hoping that I'd be able to get your father out of here before dealing with it." If that dog didn't kill him, he'd be sure to fry it under pure unadulterated light. "I'm not sure where it's coming from, though. I'd certainly like to figure out how."

"Yeah, you see, I've been thinking about that a lot." Karkat leaned onto the desk, elbows propping up his head. He blew some hair out of his face. "It seems a little too coincidental that thing came here while we were coming up. Almost like it sensed us and decided to pay a visit."

"We do have ghost detection as our powers, so I can't see why it couldn't sense us." This line of logic was dangerous for the boy and he didn't want to pursue it. He'd forgotten the child could be smart. "Though you make it sound like it was deliberate. I don't think ghost animals are likely to have that level of intelligence."

"I thought that too! It led me to another theory, actually." Karkat waved his hands a little, a smirk crossing his face. "Maybe something sent that after one of us here! It would make a lot of sense and it would leave a lot less fingerprints if they did it themselves.

…This kid was onto something. How did he come to that conclusion so fast?

"As much as I'd like to agree with you, that might be leaning close into dangerous paranoia territory." Oberon frowned, morphing his face into one of concern. "Are you sure it isn't the lack of sleep talking? I understand if this is bothering you, but it's just one ghost wolf."

"I don't know about that. If something is controlling it, that makes it all the more dangerous." Karkat tilted his head, looking the older man right in the eyes. "I mean, Noir is certainly an intimidating name for it. I'd be afraid to fuck around with that thing."

…Well. Shit.

Karkat opened up a drawer that he thought had been locked before, pulling out a ring. It carved out of obsidian and etchings of gold inside of it. The decorations on it showed the form of a wolf, resembling Noir in many respects. It even had the scar.

"I found this while I was on that long bathroom break when we were checking out some of the local wildlife. Wasn't hard to find it since it was practically glowing." Karkat tossed it up and caught it in the palm of his hand, still looking right at Oberon. "I overheard you talking to it last night. Mind explaining what the fuck is going on here?"

…Okay then. Oberon was caught. Might as well play along with the child's demands. It wasn't like it changed too much of his plan anyway.

The older man shrugged in a way that infuriated Karkat immediately. Oberon walked toward a wine cabinet, opening it up with practiced grace, grabbing a bottle and two glasses. He offered one in the younger halfa's direction, which was denied with a stiff nod. The older man shrugged before putting it back, pouring a glass for himself.

"Where do you want me to begin exactly? There's a lot to cover, quite honestly." Oberon sipped the wine for several seconds, letting it slip down his throat smoothly. "You need to be a bit more specific. We honestly don't have all day."

"Let's start with why you apparently want to kill my dad for some reason." Karkat paused, frowning a bit more. "And maybe you could also explain why you're known in the Ghost Zone as Dualscar. You have a record last time I checked."

Ah, that's more than the older halfa expected. Then again, the boy did have allies in undead law enforcement. It would be a shame not to use them.

"You'd be surprised how little that does in shrinking the scope." Oberon hummed; another sip of wine taken between pauses. He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the boy truly. "How much thought have you put into our 'situation?' Philosophically and all that, I mean."

"Plenty. For a while, that's all I was able to think about." Karkat raised an eyebrow. Where exactly was this conversation heading? "I have a name for us, but that doesn't mean I fully know what we are."

"And you probably never will. That's kind of the main thing about us half ghosts." Oberon's face soured a little. The word didn't seem to hold a positive weight to him. "I've told you about the accident. My accident."

"Where you got blasted in the face by a ton of ecto-radiation. I remember." Karkat huffed, the memory of the night they met souring even further. "I'm guessing there was a lot more to it than that?"

"Not the before, sadly. But there was a lot afterward that I didn't mention." Oberon's eyes seemed unfocused, the memory taking over. Karkat assumed this is when the flashback would start. "I never mentioned the hospital that I stayed in. The one that I was stuck in for months on end to make sure the ectoplasm was washed out of me.

"I had very few visitors. Your father and Crocker tried to in the beginning, but since radiation sickness was so severe, they weren't allowed inside. They eventually gave up after a few months." A scowl crossed the man's face, a hand twitching. "The fact I was stuck there with only a television playing reality show drivel, schoolwork I had to do so I could stay on track for graduation, and nothing else. I had plenty of time to think, especially since I had to _graduate_ in a hospital bed."

Karkat frowned, hand tapping on the wood. That was brutal, he had to admit. He'd gotten off lucky that the portal hadn't ended his existence. The fact that he wasn't put into a hospital was a miracle within itself too.

"I thought over the day of the accident mostly. All the little factors that led to it, such as finding the ectoplasm, the building of the machine, up until it eventually hit me." Oberon shrugged. "It still does play on repeat in my mind, actually. Much like how your accident does in yours."

"This isn't about me, Oberon. Focus on yourself." Karkat grit his teeth, not wanting to prove to the man that he was right. The nightmares may have lessened, but that didn't mean the weight was gone. "I'm guessing you blame my dad for the accident."

"Mostly. I did blame Crocker for a while as well since she did leave her soda there." Oberon shrugged again, not even having a bit of remorse. "I even blamed myself too. I stood near the damn thing and helped him build it. It was his idea, though. The portal was his design and everything, something he begged to get made for our project.

"But even though I did blame him for a while, seethed while in that hospital bed, something miraculous happened." A happy smile flitted onto the man's face, nostalgia slipping into his voice. "I almost forgave him."

"What made that happen?" Karkat was lost again. First he was going one way, then another. "Start making sense, Dualscar. Like you said, we don't have all day."

"Please don't call me by that moniker. I certainly didn't make the damn thing up." Oberon took a big gulp of wine, mostly to hide the sting from his pride. "And the reason why I almost forgave your father was because of my wife… Umbriel."

A mournful expression overtook Oberon's face. There was fondness and nostalgia mixed in with equal measure, but the grim feeling was winning instead. He poured more wine into his glass.

"She was a med student interning at her first hospital. Wanted to be a doctor and eventually became one. I was there for her first internship." Oberon grabbed a wallet out of his pocket, opening it up to show a photo. It was of his wife, who was being held up by smiling, healthy version of himself. "Said I was the most interesting patients she ever had, medically and personally. Visited every day because my condition was the strangest she'd ever seen or whenever she thought I needed someone to talk to.

"I'm sure you can tell I fell in love embarrassingly quickly. I never really had someone take an interest in me before like that, so I kept talking to here after I got discharged from the hospital, the rest being history." Oberon seemed happy at that, enjoying the trip down memory lane. "I kept any strange powers under wraps mostly out of self-preservation, but mostly because she was highly religious. I didn't want to scare her off, and it made getting my fortune much easier."

"…And then that fell apart when your first son was born. Eridan following years after." Karkat noted the sour turn of his face, the twist from good to bad. "Yeah, I looked into that too. Not a funny story."

"It was a good run, quite honestly. I never expected children to come into the equation at all because of the ectoplasm, but she surprised me one day a few months after our wedding." Oberon was telling the truth there. He'd almost died a second time on that day. "I figured the accident would've been hell on my biology, but she was pregnant with Cronus. Happiest day of our lives. Until the birth actually happened.

"The birth went fine, despite some concerns I had. Cronus was a healthy weight, no major abnormalities, and was as responsive as any baby was after being born." Those were good days too. Ones that got cut short. "And then his powers kicked in. The first night we went home, he phased right out of his goddamn crib."

Super religious. Kids showing demonic powers. Husband acting extremely weird about it, especially when it came to own his own past.

"She suspected you immediately." Karkat hummed, pieces falling into place. "Or she did when you started lying to her about it."

"Exactly. She knew me better than most people ever will in their lifetimes. It took years of lying, gaslighting, and manipulation to make her think it was nothing." No pride, no relish, nothing in his voice to show that he wanted it. "I taught Cronus in secret for years and she believed it was all just some form of postpartum depression. And then Eridan came.

"It was a mistake having a second child. I knew that and still didn't get myself neutered because she did want a second one. I was cocky and got off the first kid scot free." He was almost into a rant by this point, slamming the empty wine glass onto the desk. "His powers came on stronger than Cronus's! And there was no hiding that from Umbriel, no, no, no. The more powers he started to show, the more upset she got, started accusing me of being the devil and having made her create devil spawn.

"And when Eridan was thirteen, you finally put her in a home." Karkat felt a few the final slides slip into place. He just needed to know one more thing. "Why did it take you so long to put her in there.

"…Because I loved her. I didn't want to separate her from the kids."

Karkat hated to admit it, but now he understood where the man was coming from. Years of hiding himself from the world and people he loved, doing his best to keep what he wanted. Things got worse by the minute, even when Oberon tried to find a way around it.

He didn't blame his father just for the accident. He blamed him for failing his perfect life.

"I learned something important the day when I got her out of the house. I learned that no matter what, I was a cursed abomination of science that your father created in his ignorance." Oberon took a deep breath, looking into Karkat's eyes. "And so many years later, he did once again. Your life has a good chance of ending like mine. No matter how hard you explain it to other people, the accident will haunt for the rest of your life."

Another deep breath and he inched out his hand towards the boy. "Which is why I'm going to ask you to help me punish your father for what he's done to us."

"…No."

Oberon blinked, surprised as the boy got up from the desk opposite to him. The younger halfa held Noir's ring tightly, squeezing it with enough force that the elder halfa thought he'd damage it.

"Oberon, I want you to understand something; I understand everything you just said and get why you want to do this. But that is fucking insane." Karkat glared down at the man, the only thing tempering it being pity. "I'm sorry for what happened to your marriage. I'm sorry for what Eridan and Cronus had to go through. But I'm not killing my dad for it.

"I get that my accident is going to fuck up my life a whole hell of a lot, but I'm going to deal with it. There are thousands of ways it could end badly, but I'll find my happy ending eventually. Killing my dad will prevent me from doing that." The young halfa slammed his hand down onto the table, making sure his point came across. "And the same thing will happen to you if continue trying this. Killing him isn't going to change what happened at all. You're going to be just as miserable, but the added guilt of having killed someone you called a friend once."

Karkat straightened up looking down at the man. The glare gave way to something pleading, trying to appeal to the humanity Oberon still had. "I'm asking as the only other person to know this kind of pain; don't do this. Back out now, and we can still make up for lost time. This doesn't have to end like this."

And that was the ultimatum here. Oberon could stop and they could have the mentor-student relationship that Karkat desperately needed. The solidarity the older halfa craved. If the man didn't stop, there'd be little chance to turn back. The young halfa would have to fight tooth and nail to keep him from completing his goal.

"…I've done too much to get here, kid. Stopping now would make me a hypocrite."

And the decision was made with those words, followed by an accompanying bang.

Karkat didn't know when Oberon had gotten up, but it was quicker than he could see. The older man's hand was gripping his throat, pinning him to the wall completely.

"I'll need that ring back, by the by. It was extremely difficult to take, so I'll need it back." Oberon was relying on the fear to get the boy to cooperate. "I'd also suggest changing your mind. I've gone too far to stop now, and I'm not stopping just because a child asked me too."

Despite the fact this was a frightening display, the older halfa had forgotten one simple fact; Karkat was a stubborn asshole. The boy growled, eyes going feral.

"Go fuck yourself."

Karkat fired an ectoblast into the man's chest, throwing him back. The halfa was able to get a second of air into his lungs before Oberon flew right back at him, throwing a fist. The younger halfa dodged quickly, the hand going into the wall.

Karkat fired off another round again, but this one was blocked before Oberon sent one right back. The younger halfa didn't bother blocking, dodging as the burst scorched the wall behind him. He had to dodge a few more shots before turning intangible, flying out through the roof.

As the halfa transformed, Oberon came out, in full ghost form, to punch him the stomach. Karkat was sent flying, hitting a tree at full speed. The boy nearly crumpled, slipping down the tree as the older halfa flew closer to him.

"I don't really know what you expected to happen here, boy, but I've got over twenty years with my powers. Going against me is suicide." Oberon's teeth gleamed in the light of the moon as he scowled, once again reaching his hand out. "Just give me the ring and you'll be spared. A lucky break compared to what most people get."

Considering he'd spent the first few moments of this fight getting his ass handed to him, Karkat figured continuing this alone would be a considerably bad idea. At least he had help with Fright Knight. Here, he had no one.

…He still had the ring, though.

Karkat put it on quickly, the action causing Oberon to lunge at him. Putting some energy into it, the ring glowed, a burst of energy making the older halfa stop. He was physically thrown back by the ray of light that showed up, revealing itself to be Noir, standing in front of Phantom.

"Noir," Karkat stated simply, pointing at Oberon with deep set scowl. "Sic em."

The wolf responded instantly, jumping at the man with fangs bared. Oberon grabbed its mouth before it could clamp down on him, though Karkat took advantage flying around and kicking him in the side with his full strength.

The hit caused Oberon to fold, Noir's teeth clacking it bit the air, a second bite latching onto the older halfa's tail. It flung him to the side, causing him to hit the ground hard, Karkat throwing ectoblasts at him all the while.

Oberon threw beams of light at them both, causing them to retreat. Splitting up his attention, though, made Oberon fail to notice as Karkat pulled out a sickle, sending an arcing ectoblast at him.

Oberon barely dodged it, along with the wail of Noir's howl soon after. As quickly as he could, he appeared in front of Karkat and sliced at him with his claws. It was a direct hit, ectoplasm spraying out of the halfa's side.

Panicked, the Phantom swung his sickle in response, hitting Oberon in the same place. The pain caused the older halfa to pause, only able to singe an ectoblast into Phantom's shoulder before Noir tackled him out of the sky.

The wolf pinned down Oberon, clawing into with a howl and started biting into him every so often. The older halfa struggled to fight off the dog, eventually getting enough ground to grab its jaws and twist.

A crack could be heard as the wolf howled in pain. Oberon slipped out from under it, grabbing its tail and throwing it over his shoulder. Another crack emitted from the wolfs back, something breaking. Oberon did it again, and again, breaking more of the things bones.

Karkat did his best to stop this, hitting the older man in the back. Oberon let go of the wolf, throwing another blast of light towards the younger halfa. The blast hit its target in the leg, though Karkat still had enough time to get both of his sickles around the man's throat.

The fight stopped then, the older man noting the green blades around his neck. He breathed heavily, the cuts and bruises of the fight taking their toll. Karkat felt himself weaken too, exhaustion seeping in at his own wounds.

The only thing that prevented the fight from going further was the sound of shouts in the distance, causing them both to still. Karkat looked Oberon right in the eye, transforming before shouting.

"Dad! The ghost is out here!" Karkat could hear the shouting growing louder, smiling mischievously. "I think I saw it with something else too! Get all the gun you can!"

Oberon cursed, transforming quickly. The younger halfa was able to hide his sickles away before Spades was able to run up, carrying an ecto-bazooka in his pajamas.

"I heard some stuff going on in the office, what- holy shit, are you two okay?!" Spades almost dropped his weapon, seeing the state the two were in. "Where's the fucking ghost?! Just point and I'll shoot!"

"He's over there, Slick." Oberon jerked a thumb towards Noir, the wolf having slowly gotten up from the fight. "Don't let it get away."

Spades didn't have to be told twice, turning a rage filled glare towards the wolf. He started firing, chasing after it as it started running away. Curses and screams could be heard as they went off into the forest.

There was quiet for a moment as the two halfa's watched him go, one more bitterly than the other. Karkat pocketed the ring to summon Noir, feeling a burst of power coming form it, signifying the wolf was returning to it. He cleared his throat.

"You try anything like this shit again, I'll tell the entire world about us. I'll tell him exactly what you were doing out here." Karkat turned his wrath filled gaze towards Oberon, eyes burning. "Don't test me. If it means having the government on our asses, I'll make sure you don't kill him."

"What makes you think he'll believe you? As far as he's concerned, half ghosts don't exist." The man chuckled darkly, looking down at the boy, smug. "We're barely a wife's tale in the Ghost Zone. He might just assume you're being possessed."

"He loves me more than he believes you." The shut down did cause the older man to think it over, something Karkat needed to happen. "At least in my case, I never did anything illegal. You, however, cheated your way into millions and were plotting murder. And let's not add assaulting a minor to this too."

"…And what about Eridan? What should I tell him?" Oberon knew how to twist the knife watching Karkat wince at the mention of his son. "He'd definitely be disappointed to know about how his new friend hates his father."

"Tell him nothing then. In return, I won't tell him anything about his father is a crook and psychopath." Karkat sent his hand out, a gleam in his eye. "He keeps his father and his friend. Do we have a deal, Dualscar?"

Despite the glare crossing the older mans features at the moniker, Oberon did grab and shake the boy's hands. He almost didn't seem surprised as blood spilled from both of their palms.

"Deal."

The two halfa's heard more shouts in the distance this time, the rest of their cabin mates joining them shortly. A lot of hurried questions were sent their way as they were rushed to the cabin, joined shortly by a confused, though happy Spades. He had apparently caught up and hit Noir with plenty of blasts until it "vanished," which he assumed that he killed it, or it just faded away.

Karkat didn't really listen much to that story, or anything really. While his wounds were dressed and discussions were had, the halfa couldn't help but mourn.

Oberon had proven himself to be truly dead tonight. And instead of the halfa that was supposed to teach him, there was only Dualscar, a vengeance filled villain whose only desire was to ruin another person's life. Karkat mourned one and cursed the other, the loss causing the anger to grow.

Dualscar wouldn't hurt his father or anyone else. Not if he had anything to say about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit; I'm glad I got the chapter out, but I think I could've ended it better. However, I still think it's good. I hope you all enjoy this and that this is an interesting change of pace for all of you.
> 
> Remember, if you make fanart or anything else based on this, link me to it. I'll appreciate it and save it on a folder on my computer for when days get pretty bad.
> 
> I'll see you all next chapter!


	31. Doctor's Disorders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This came out a little disjointed for me, but I think it's good. Trust me, (I think) I know what I'm doing. It's just all a little weird right now since I'm going to be experimenting with some more original stuff as the fic goes on.
> 
> Without further ado, let's get on with this chapter!

Karkat figured there would be some level of change when they got back from the trip. He just wasn't sure what it would actually be.

Oberon and Crocker did choose to invest in Spades inventions, one to keep an eye on what the man was building, the other being an honest intentional choice. He'd made sure to tell everyone what happened immediately after, making sure people had their eyes on "Dualscar." Not to mention that, even though Eridan obviously didn't know what had happened that night, there was a noticeable change in how the two acted around each other.

However, his two main concerns were this: Sollux and Aradia sprouting powers and the noticeable uptick in ghosts.

"I'm starting to think Dualscar was keeping those fuckers back. This can't be a coincidence." Karkat had gotten two hours of sleep last night. None of which was consecutive. "The bastard is being petty. Or he's trying to tire me out so he can kill my dad when I'm passed out or something."

"That really shouldn't be a sentence that comes out your mouth. Why the fuck does any of this have to be happening at all?" Sollux, along with Aradia, had lost sleep too. Even after Karkat had made them go home at an earlier time, the two had pretty much been worrying themselves as much as they can. "This just utterly sucks. Are you sure we can't just get the police on his ass?"

"Karkat would have to admit his secret then, and I don't think the government would leave either of them alone if that happened." Aradia patted the boys on the back, sighing deeply. "Are those messages I've tried sending working? I still don't know if I'm doing this right."

Even if the appearance of powers was worrying, they had been a boon for them because of the rise in ghost activity. Aradia had gained the ability to send the occasional message to the past on Ghostian, though it was for a brief amount of time. They'd tried capitalizing on this as best they could by sending messages to themselves about what they'd need for an attack. The window to do it was short, so it was the best they could do.

"Some of them. It certainly helps to know when to pack some coffee during patrols." Some of the messages came to Karkat a little too late, but it was otherwise good. "Anymore dreams, Sollux? Or has it been okay so far?"

"Nothing, which I'm not sure is a good thing or not." Sollux rubbed at his head, the onset of a migraine coming on. "I'm wondering if that only happens when something bad is coming up. I think I'm getting some of kind of spider sense, though."

Karkat was a little glad to hear that. Sure, premonitions would be pretty useful, but if Sollux had to see him die for it to work, then he was fine being a little less prepared. That, and the messaging thing didn't seem to have a negative effect on Aradia.

"Well, hopefully we don't have to use that either. Not like we need any more of that, am I right?" Aradia laughed, but it rang hollow. They'd been experimenting with this for a week now, so she kinda wished for a change in subject. "Has anyone else seen you during the ghost fights? I think we've done well preventing another Claire Incident."

"So far, and don't jinx it. I still don't know if some people got some unfortunate photos of me." Karkat clucked his tongue. Before the fight with Oberon, Karkat had been able to hide the fights easily under the cover of darkness, along with being able to rush it. After it, he was lucky no one noticed the light show on certain nights. "I think a few people have seen me, but no pictures yet. Rumors are spreading, though."

"Just what we need. Should we try spreading some of our own? We haven't messed with Tethis in a while." Aradia wouldn't normally go to these lengths, but it was a desperate situation. "Or we could expose a local celebrity or something."

"I'm pretty sure the only local celebrity is Spades… which means we have plenty of dirt." Sollux raised his eyebrows, looking at Karkat with a deadpan expression. "Did your dad get excommunicated by the pope yet? I know you've been checking the mail for that."

"Jesus fucking Christ Captor, don't joke about that."

The arguing would've continued, but it was stopped as they heard a loud crash come from a street away. They stopped, expecting to hear the yelling that usually followed from what was probably a collision.

Then Karkat felt a stream of smoke fly out of his mouth that made them freeze up. Aradia covered her face in her hands.

"Dear god, please tell me Nepeta or Terezi decided to make a surprise visit."

Another crash could be heard from the next street over. A yell, followed by several screams could heard, sending them into overdrive. Karkat dove behind a tree, a bright light signifying his transformation as he flew towards the source with nary a thought in his mind.

"God damnit, of course it isn't." Sollux looked at his phone as he ran towards the site too. "I don't see any messages from your future self! Do you?!"

"Nothing!" Aradia hoped that meant it was a quick fight then. God, why did this ghost have to attack during the day? "Just hurry over there and hope Karkat takes it out! You have your med kit?"

"Always?"

The trio raced off to what they hoped would be a clean and easy fight.

* * *

"Mother, I really don't understand why we have to go with you on this one." Porrim rolled her eyes as they kept driving down the roads of this weird small town. She normally wasn't this dismissive, but she couldn't help but feel really annoyed. "Kanaya I understand, but I really just want to head back to campus right now."

"We haven't spent that much time together, dear. Even if it is on business." Rosa Maryam did her best to keep her eyes on the road, though they did wander briefly to her daughters. "Plus, I'd rather not have to deal with Pamela by myself. That woman saps any joy from the room wherever she goes."

"I really wish you wouldn't have to talk about your colleagues like that. Even if it is true." Kanaya put a bookmark into the Psychology textbook she'd been looking into. "You'd think anyone in your field would actually want to work together…"

"Academia can be horribly competitive. Something I really hope that you avoid if you can." Rosa mumbled some gripes about some of her early years, something her daughters dutifully ignored. "Makes me glad you went into business, Porrim. How are your classes going, by the by?"

"Fine, though the professors really need to stop commenting on my tattoo's. I get that they might scare off employers, but it isn't like they can tell me what to do with my body." Porrim really didn't want to get more into it than she wanted to. "Any idea why we're heading down here? You don't usually do this type of thing with your other centers."

"There's been some strange requests coming from the woman in charge of this chapter and I'm wondering what exactly is going on." Rosa had read some expense reports and found that the place had asked for more security measures. Considering Amity Park had been considered safe for so many years, this was a strange order. "I'm hoping it isn't something serious."

"It's most likely a domestic dispute situation going a little haywire. It's sad that it happens, though I can't say I'd be too surprised." Kanaya debated opening up her textbook again just to avoid the atmosphere she created but decided to bear with it. "Hopefully, it's not that serious."

"Really going morbid there. Might want to dial it down a bit." Porrim good naturedly messed with her sister's hair, which she knew Kanaya didn't like. She watched with a grin as her younger sister hurriedly fixed it in the mirror. "And I thought you were already out of your emo phase."

"I only tried the style out once!"

Rose rolled her eyes as her daughters went with their own version of bickering, happy there wasn't any heat behind it. She double checked the GPS, making sure they were on the right path.

Other than Pamela doing her next psychology project here and the towns own version of her daycare, she didn't know much about Amity Park. She'd been a in a bit of a news blackout recently and focused on her work. She knew it was receiving some headlines, but she didn't have the time to figure out what…

Her musings would have to continue at another time as she couldn't help but hear a loud crash occurring not far down the street, prompting her to nearly stomp on the brakes. Blinking out of her musings, she was able to see a white blur suddenly fly across her windshield, hitting the car parked to their right.

The Maryam's were expecting to see a car having gone off road to be the culprit, but the fact that it seemed to be growing quickly dismissed that. To their ultimate surprise, the damn thing appeared to be _alive._

A giant, white cat rose, a low purr coming from what appeared to be two mouths. It glared at its surroundings; the portal that had brought it here having closed already. The light of the sun burned its eyes, a long tail thrashing. There wasn't a lot of foot or vehicle traffic today, but the people that were there just stared at it with open mouths.

Then the thing roared, sending everyone into a panic.

Rosa wasn't a veterinarian, but she figured that whatever kind of cat that was, it wasn't friendly. She immediately pressed the gas, shooting away from it as fast as she could. Porrim was swearing while Kanaya turned to look back. The giant cat focused on them immediately, jumping after them with another roar.

Guess movement caught its attention more.

"Mother, please speed up! It's catching up!" Kanaya wasn't lying about that. The cat (panther? Lion? What the fuck was it?) was indeed catching up to them, leaping in great bounds to catch up to them. "I don't think it's going to stop if it catches us!"

"We're well aware of that!" Porrim forced herself to keep an eye on the road, making sure her mom didn't hit anything. "Mom turn left up there! I think that might be an exit!"

Rosa listened, swerving the car as the cat pounced at the car. It missed by a mile, but the relief was only momentary as they noticed the street was going to end in a dead end, the stretch of road leading into an unsatisfying dirt road. It was leading into a tree line that didn't have a big enough gap for them.

"…Well, shit."

Before the cat could catch up to the possibly doomed family, a black and white blur tackled it, sending it straight into the tree. Rosa was able to stop the car before it ended up off the road, nearly giving everyone whiplash again.

The three weren't exactly able to look behind them fast enough as flashes of green light made them turn away, along with the roars and yelps of the giant white cat making them wince. Almost as quickly as it began, the fight ended as one final light caused the cat to disappear.

The spectacle had changed from the white cat to a _floating teenager_ looking at a thermos angrily.

"Seriously, you came here during the day?! I thought there was etiquette to this shit." The boy put the thermos back onto his belt, cursing all the while. "I really hope people didn't see you. Otherwise… oh, shit, you were chasing a car."

The teen flew to the cars driver's seat, tapping the glass hesitantly. Rosa blinked at him, not bothering to pull down the window.

"Hey, are you three okay? That thing didn't get too close, right?" Rosa simply nodded at the boy, who seemed satisfied with that response. "Good. Maybe take a few minutes to shake off the adrenaline. Trust me it wears off quick."

He looked over his shoulder to see that several people were turning the corner, some with their phones out. He groaned softly, looking at the three once again and waving.

"Well, enjoy your stay in Amity Park, because no one will ever believe this ever happened! Tootles!"

And then he vanished into nothingness.

The car was mercifully silent for a few seconds as the people in it tried to process the last few moments. Disturbingly, they realized the entire encounter hadn't even taken the last ten minutes or so of the day.

"…Mother?"

"Yes, Kanaya?"

"What the hell was that?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

Karkat was lowkey pissed about everything right now and he sure as hell didn't know what to do about it. However, things could've been worse.

While today's attack had been in broad daylight, _with witnesses,_ no one had caught any video of it. The whole thing had happened on a less populated street that hadn't had proper surveillance in a while, and the people miraculously decided to prioritize their own safety instead of vlogging it.

Though, that did nothing to stop the rumor mill.

"I've just seen ten posts across my dash about the giant cat thing." Sollux informed with a deadpan. They decided just to head to his home afterward and it frankly didn't help things. "Surprisingly few memes, but at least that means things are still under wraps. When the memes start coming, that's when you know we're fucked."

"Thank you for your stellar commentary, Captor." Karkat was lying face down on the couch, trying to get some sleep in. The day had already proven to take whatever energy he had and turn it into nothing. "I'll make sure to avoid becoming a meme, thank you. Not like I'm already busy enough as is."

"Your dad is already enough of a meme for the both of you, so I think you'll be safe." Aradia bumped her shoulder into both of the boys, waving her phone at them. "Might want to check in on the others too. I think Terezi wants to talk about that ring you found."

Karkat groaned but opened up the app on his phone anyway. Might as well get this over with.

CG: ARADIA TOLD ME TO START MESSAGING YOU GUYS AGAIN. SOMETHING GOING ON?

GC: F1N4LLY! 1 W4S ST4RT1NG TO WOND3R 1F YOU GOT YOU'R3 4SS K1CK3D OR SOM3TH1NG.

CG: I HAD TO TAKE DOWN A MUTANT GHOST CAT WITH TWO MOUTHS. GIVE ME A BREAK HERE.

AC: :33 so that's why pounce de leon was so agitated today!

GC: 4H. 4NOTH3R DU4LSC4R TH1NG? MY MOM'S B33N M4K1NG SUR3 H3R 4G3NTS K33P 4N 3Y3 OUT FOR H1M.

AG: I still can't 8elieve you got a fucking nemesis.

AS: Vriska, don't interrupt. That's still a sor8 spot too.

Oh great, the Serkets were joining in on the conversation. Always so glad to hear from the twisted sisters any time this week.

CG: HELLO TO YOU TOO, SERKETS. TEREZI HAVE THESE TWO BEEN BEHAVING?

GC: SO F4R. VR1SK4'S B33N 4 L1TTL3 SH1T, BUT 4R4N34'S B33N 4N 1D34L L1TTL3 P4ROL33.

AG: Hey!

AS: Thank you, Ms. Pyrope. Vantas, how m8ch progr8ss has 8een mad8 so I can work at the local prison?

CG: CAPTOR'S WORKING ON IT. YOU SHOULD HAVE THE CREDENTIAL SOON ENOUGH. VRISKA, YOU'LL GET SOME TIME AT LOCAL MUSIC FESTIVAL IF YOU KEEP THIS UP.

AC: :33 is it really a good idea to let aranea work at a prison? not to say she didn't earn it, but i think that's a little cruel.

AS: I'll make sure to keep things in moderation, Ms. Leijon. I'm actually pr8tty go8d at that.

AG: Okay, I know that was a dig on me.

Karkat rolled his eyes, already sensing a fight brewing between the sisters. He really didn't want to deal with that right now.

CG: BREAK IT UP, VRISKA. I MESSAGED SO I COULD FIGURE OUT THE STATUS ON FINDING THE RINGS ORIGINAL OWNER.

AC: :33 noir's ring? we've b33n looking, but we haven't found anything yet.

GC: SURPR1S3D YOU 3V3N W4NT TO G1V3 1T B4CK. S33MS L1K3 1T WOULD B3 PR3TTY US3FUL 1N K1CK1NG DU4LSC4R'S 4SS WH3N YOU N33D 1T.

CG: I DON'T WANT WHOEVER HE'S PISSED OFF COMING AFTER ME. BESIDES, I MIGHT BE ABLE TO WORK SOMETHING OUT WITH THEM IF THEY'RE THANKFUL FOR ME RETURNING IT.

AC: :33 political maneuvering. nice.

GC: 1'LL G3T B4CK TO YOU ON TH4T WH3N MOM F1NDS 4 L34D.

AG: Anything else you plan on doing? Or was this just a 8usiness call.

CG: NAH. DAD'S GETTING A GUEST LATER, BUT IT'S FROM SOME PSYCHOLOGIST NAMED PENELOPE SPECTRA. NOTHING MUCH ELSE.

AS: I'm sorry, who d8d you say that was?

Karkat heard a knock on the door, taking his attention away from the phone. He grumbled as he got up, ignoring the messages for now. He'd talk to them later if something interesting happened.

As he made it to the door, he could hear some voices being raised, causing him to immediately curse in his head. If this was another group of protestors wanting to talk to Spades, he was just going to slam the door in their faces. If it wasn't, they better have a good reason for deciding to unload their shit here.

Karkat opened the door, blinking as he noted four people standing on his doorstep. One of them was an older woman, wearing a sharp business suit in a loud shade of red. Her hair was greying significantly, but there was still a prominent amount of red in her own hair, shaped into a bun that would've been considered classy. He couldn't help but think of her as some Karen with a doctorate degree.

The other three were obviously a family, and one he actually recognized. They were the ones he saved earlier.

Now that he got a good look at them, he could actually tell they were all related. The eldest and the youngest shared a similar poised and perfect haircut and fashion style, while the other one he could only tell by the face. The tattoos and longer hair threw him off a bit, but it was still obvious.

He was getting a weird look from her. Had to make that stop. The halfa cleared his throat the make the snarking stop.

"If you two will excuse me," Karkat knew how sarcastic it sounded, but it wasn't like it was polite to argue on his doorstep anyway. "Can you please take this somewhere else? If not keep it out of the house."

The woman from earlier took one look at him and choked on her spit. He wasn't sure how to deal with that, so he gave a sarcastic look towards the redhead. She was pulling out her ID, which was not something he expected.

"I'm Penelope Spectra. Is this Spades Slick's house?" Oh great, it was the psychologist. Of course she decided to make her entrance. "I wanted to talk to him about this whole delusion involving ghosts? More specifically how he's spreading it into the whole town."

…Oh, he didn't like her already. He did his best to hide a scowl, turning to yell inside the house.

"Dad, the psychologist is here for you!" Karkat could sense the woman's eyes shoot up. He was really starting to hate that reaction if he was being honest with himself. "So are a couple other people."

"What do they want?"

"I'll ask!" Karkat looked over the other woman carefully. He couldn't help but notice how pale she looked. Guess she was still a little freaked out from earlier. He almost felt bad for playing dumb. "Is there anything you want, Mrs…"

"Uh, Maryam! Rosa Maryam." Rosa adjusted the tie to her own business suit, looking him over nervously. "It's nice to meet you! I may have run into some trouble while doing some business out here…"

"We were attacked by something strange.." The youngest of the group shook his hand, giving her mother a strange look. "I'm Kanaya, and the woman next to me is Porrim. Sorry to intrude, but we asked around and your father apparently deals with strange things around here."

"That's the gist of it." Karkat was glad someone wasn't speaking lowly of his dad or acting weird. He'd had enough of that for today. "Anything specifically weird about it? Amity Park can be a pretty strange place."

"A giant cat. And, to a lesser extent, some kind of floating boy." Kanaya didn't seem to believe what was coming out of her own mouth, but she pressed on. "Is that strange enough to get your father's attention?"

"I'd certainly say it is, kid."

Karkat was glad to see his dad actually up from the lab, wiping his hands clean of grease. He was pretty focused on it, not looking up just yet.

"What exactly did either of them look like? I haven't heard about the cat before, but I've been hearing some things about a floating kid." Spades finally got the last of the grease off, looking up at the visitors with his one eye. "Was he- wait a minute. Rosa?"

Karkat had been moving towards the living room again when he heard that. A chill went up his spine at the apparent familiarity between his dad and this stranger.

Great, more old friends. Hopefully, this one was a lot less homicidal.

"You two know each other?" Porrim finally decided to speak then, giving her mom a surprised look. The halfa didn't blame her, he didn't think they hung out in the same circles either. "Geeze mom, did you have a lot more fun in college then we thought?"

"Porrim, that's inappropriate." Rosa massaged her temples. This day had gotten from bad to worse and she was obviously not equipped to deal with it right now. "We knew each other a long time ago. It's extremely complicated."

"It certainly sounds like it." Everyone had forgotten Spectra was there, and she didn't seem happy about that. "I'm surprised you're falling for all of this delusional prattle too. I guess I overestimated you."

Virtually everyone gave her the stink eye, something the woman ignored in favor of stepping into the house. She looked around at the pictures and everything else as she made it to the lab door.

"I'm guessing this is where your lab is? If you don't mind, I'd rather much talk there. I think it'll be a good learning experience for both of us." Penelope didn't bother waiting for a response, opening the door. "I certainly want to take a look at this portal that you created."

"Please tell me your standards haven't gotten low enough that she's one of your friends." Spades gave Rosa a deadpan look. "Because if she is, I think you might need to get out more."

"I only know her because of professional reasons, and I've been doing my best to keep it that way." She was telling the truth, considering her head looked ready to explode. "If you want I'll explain what happened down in the lab too. Porrim, Kanaya, do you want to…"

"If this is that Spades guy you talked about so much, I think I'd rather pass and stay up here." Porrim may have joked earlier, but she had heard some stories. Spades had made plenty of them to talk about. "Even if it does sound like fun."

"How did you say you two each other again? You didn't exactly explain that." Kanaya had a point and Karkat was just as curious. Especially since they both winced and the tension in the room really got awkward. "You don't have to if it's a touchy subject. I'm just a bit curious."

Rosa considered her options for a few moments, face twisting along with Spades. She did look down at Karkat eventually, narrowing her eyes. "You're Karkat Vantas, correct?"

"Yeah? I'm sorry, I don't we've met before." Karkat shrugged, giving an awkward look towards the other Maryam's. Apparently his name must've meant something to them too because they both went stiff at the mention of his name. "I'm guessing that means something."

"Yes. I actually knew your father. Your birth father." Rosa gulped as she extended a hand out to him, nervous and little hopeful. "In a funny way, I'm actually your grandmother."

"…What?"

Today was going to be a really weird day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know this all seems a bit weird, but it will be explained in the following chapters. I wanted to include the Maryam's somehow, especially since I figured out a little late that Kanaya would be a perfect Jazz analogue.
> 
> As for Penelope Spectra being here, that will be explained too. The only thing I'll say now is that it relates to Aranea's (and Vriska's somewhat) backstory.
> 
> Thank you for your readership and I'll see you all next chapter!


	32. Patient Patient's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the next chapter! Hope I haven't kept anyone waiting. This one wasn't hard to write, but some parts needed smoothing over. Hopefully you appreciate it all the same.
> 
> Without further ado, let's head right on in!

Karkat kept thinking every day that his life couldn't get any goddamn weirder. The accident should've been the height of weirdness, but then ghosts started popping up. Then he met Dualscar, show turned out to be a supervillain. Not to mention the weird shit with those biker ghosts and that human that released Fright Knight.

Now he kinda has a grandmother. And two aunts that are barely older than he was.

What the fuck was his life?

To say the least, the living room was pretty awkward after the introduction. Porrim and Kanaya decided to stay upstairs, but Rosa had to go downstairs to make sure that Spectra woman didn't do anything stupid. Spades looked like he wanted to talk more about it too, but he didn't want anyone he didn't trust in the lab alone too long.

Which left him alone with the Maryam's. Along with Sollux and Aradia, who had decided to eavesdrop on the conversation earlier.

He wasn't sure where to begin with all of this, something the two Maryam's seemingly had in common with him. The halfa was ninety percent sure nobody would say anything if somebody decided to interject.

He was thankful, but also completely embarrassed when his friends with horrible social skills decided to break the silence.

"Alright, I'll bite," Sollux steepled his fingers, holding them close to his mouth as he looked at all three of them. "What kind of a family situation is this? Is it going to turn out to be one of those weird marriage situations that'll end up with someone being their own grandpa?"

"No, I think this isn't a biological thing." Aradia joined in, if only to make the situation awkward enough to break the silence. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that only happened in a song. And in Futurama. Either way, probably not something that can actually happen."

"There were ten different ways you could've started this conversation," Karkat pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh. "And yet you chose one of the worst ones to pick. Congratulations, this is even worse than that time we met some of dad's old bandmates."

"At least it broke the tension." Kanaya closed the textbook she'd been reading. She wasn't really reading it anyway; it was just to distract her. "Even if it was a bit crude. Or very strange."

"This whole situation has been strange. At least this is funny." Porrim rubbed at her own eyes, trying to think through all of this. "Are you really a Vantas? You know, that's your real last name and everything?"

"Pretty much. Dad never bothered to change it to his own because he wanted me to decide what to do with it." Karkat hadn't bothered because it seemed like a hassle to change it. Maybe there would've been an advantage to it, though. "I think I'm a little more concerned about how _your_ mom is _my_ grandmother. Just what the hell was she talking about?"

"Ah. That. Not a fun story there." Porrim didn't look interested in telling it, though not out of malice. More out of an obvious hesitance. "Really unhappy and generally not a great thing to tell people we just met about."

"Considering he's related to you two, I don't think that's as much of a problem." Aradia blinked before leaning back. "Then again, Sollux and I don't really count as family. Do you want us to leave the room or…?"

"No, that's fine. If we say anything it might be a good thing to have a support system around." Kanaya didn't _want_ to air some dirty laundry in front of anyone, but she did truly believe this. "Unless either of you don't want to figure any of this out."

"Sorry, you're not exactly getting rid of us. We're hooked in now." Sollux wanted to make sure this wasn't some weird trick, so he was staying. "Besides, I don't get enough juicy gossip as is. It'll be nice to add this to what I know."

Kanaya figured that was a joke, but her eyebrow raised all the same. She just shook her head before looking at Karkat. "What do you know of your father, exactly? Or what did Mr. Spades tell you?"

And that was the million-dollar question, wasn't it?

Karkat admittedly knew only a few concrete things about his father; he was a man of the cloth, a good person, and he was dead. That wasn't due to Spades not telling him anything. Spades told him all kinds of stories about him, especially their time in college together. It was just that he couldn't really find much on his own, and for the most part, he was fine with that. At least he knew he wasn't abandoned.

He told him that much, though slightly edited. Kanaya didn't seem surprised or show any pity at that, which was actually appreciated. People got all sad about it when he talked about his dead dad, even when he was okay with it.

"Well, he actually grew up in the foster system too. As our mother told us, he apparently grew up as Kankri Vantas, the last name being given to him from a late mother." Kanaya sighed, thinking through the story as best she could. She didn't want to leave any details out. "My own mother lived in the foster home your father did. She was a few years older than he was, but they apparently became friends when it became clear they weren't going to be adopted.

"Not exactly a great start to a friendship, but since everyone else kept getting adopted out, they were the only ones that had each other." Kanaya shrugged. This wasn't a story she was fond of hearing or telling. "An overall sad state of affairs, especially when she aged out of the program. Other than having a job lined up, she didn't exactly have any plans. And she didn't want to just leave your father there."

"Instead of waiting for him to age out of the system, like a normal person would've, she decided that it'd be a lot more efficient just to adopt him." Porrim squinted her eyes, obviously doing her best to remember herself. "It was apparently a hell of a fiasco for a while, but they got it to work. They had this whole joke after the thing ended where he'd call her 'mom,' but she used to hate that. She used to joke about how he was technically my older brother and everything."

Okay, that explained some things. Kind of weird, but he guessed that meant the whole thing was a weird joke that was, by a legal standpoint, true. That didn't explain one tiny detail, though…

"That sounds like a cute story and all, but that doesn't explain why I haven't heard of any of you before." Karkat did notice the twitch from the other two. He backtracked, having felt like he stepped over an invisible line. "I'm guessing that's a long story too."

"…How did Spades your father? We never heard much about him." Kanaya was obviously stalling for time, but he figured that was fair. Technically, she'd already given him plenty of information. "We've only heard a few stories in comparison to Kankri."

Karkat thought about saying no, but that would've not only been rude, but pretty unfair. They'd been pretty good at giving him what he asked, so it wouldn't be a good idea for him to deny them.

"Dad didn't really know my bio- _Kankri _for too long. He said they met in college when he was starting to doubt about going into his line of research." Karkat knew that was the truth. When Spades finally owned up about adopting him, this was the story he told. "Hell, he was kind of seen as an 'at risk' kind of person, and Kankri decided to talk to him. Convinced him to keep going despite whatever it was."

That made him wonder. Did Spades almost want to stop researching ghosts because of the Oberon's accident? The timing would've worked out and it certainly would've been a wake-up call.

"They apparently got to know each other pretty well throughout the years. Became fast friends, even if dad had a few issues with organized religion." Karkat had been told that his biological father mostly did it to find the best way to help people in a large fashion. Churches were a good way to do that. "And he eventually got ordained, or something like that. It wasn't long after he started actually working that… well, you know the rest."

And judging from the morose expression that settled on Porrim's face, they did.

Spades had been light on details about how his biological father died, if only for his sake. Karkat actually had to look it up himself to figure out his father's death was a messy one. Kankri had been found dead in his vehicle, which had been in a horrible collision. The only reason it hadn't been called an accident was because of a few weird injuries near his head, implying there was more to it.

"Mom was devastated for a long time. The only thing she could do was grieve back when it happened." Porrim muttered, checking her nails. Karkat almost forgot that it probably happened when she was a kid, not to mention Kanaya. "She just shut down for the longest time, long enough for any debate on your custody to go to Spades. He tried talking to her, but there really wasn't anyway for them to."

"They lost contact after a while. Mother recovered eventually, but it was a bit too late." Kanaya shrugged. It was the facts, even if most of them were unpleasant. "And then, on a strange stroke of luck, we ended up finding you anyway. I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that."

"Probably pretty shitty as far as I'm concerned." Karkat really hadn't been ready for today, especially on his emotional wellbeing. He thought he had enough to deal with as is. "What happens now? Not that this hasn't been interesting, and I wouldn't mind getting to know you guys more, but this is seriously out of left field."

"That's up to our mother, actually." Kanaya really wasn't sure what they'd be doing after this, but she had a feeling that after the daycare situation had been sorted out, there'd be a lot to talk about. "You probably don't have to worry about anything involving custody or anything. Considering your age, that wouldn't be a productive endeavor."

"That's not comforting at all, Kanaya. Seriously, don't those psychology books tell you not to make comments like that." Porrim smiled as she watched her little sister become irritated. "I mean, bedside manner may be a medical thing, but I'm pretty sure that applies here."

Karkat welcomed the addition of the sibling banter to this conversation. It made things a hell of a lot less tense than they were a few minutes ago, especially with that story hanging over their heads.

He felt Sollux elbow him, causing him to snap out of watching whatever it was that kept him down. The spectacled boy pointed at Karkat's phone, which had been left on the side table. He hadn't checked it since the conversation started. The thing's been buzzing, apparently.

Looking briefly at the sisters, he grabbed his phone to check it out.

AG: Hey.

AG: Hey.

AG: Heeeeeeeey.

CG: WHAT?

AG: Finally! I was wondering when you'd pick up, I've 8een drowning over here!

GC: W3'V3 B33N TRY1NG TO 1GNOR3 H3R BUT SH3 JUST K33PS M3SS4G1NG US.

AC: :33 are you busy right meow or something? we were starting to get worried.

CG: FAMILY DRAMA. APPARENTLY I HAVE A LONG LOST GRANDMOTHER. YOU KNOW, LIKE ALL PEOPLE HAVE.

AG: As hilarious as that sounds, we don't got time for your pro8lems. Have you seen my sister?

CG: WHY THE HELL WOULD I KNOW WHERE YOUR SISTER IS? ISN'T SHE IN THE GHOST ZONE STILL?

AG: No! She just started 8a88ling a8out something and 8efore I could ask her where she was going, she just flew out the door!

AC: :33 maybe she n33ded to go get something. maybe it was food?

GC: D1D SH3 T3LL YOU 4NYTH1NG B3FOR3 SH3 W3NT OUT? :?

AG: No, which is weird. She usually doesn't shut up. The only reason I didn't go after her is 8ecause I still need an "escort."

GC: F1N3, F1N3. 1'LL COM3 4ND P1CK YOU UP. M4YB3 MU3L1N 4ND HORUSS H4V3 SOM3TH1NG.

CG: I'LL CALL THEM UP.

Karkat did, looking up briefly. Porrim and Kanaya were still ribbing at each other, which was good. He frowned as he sent a message to the pair of moirails.

CG: HORUSS, MUELIN. SORRY TO CALL YOU UP OUT OF THE BLUE LIKE THIS, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN ARANEA ANYWHERE?

HZ: 8=D Greetings Phantom! I'm sorry to say that I haven't seen her anywhere.

ML: I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM HER EITHER! THEN AGAIN, I DON'T HEAR ANYONE! :3

CG: OKAY, THAT'S CLEVER, BUT THIS KINDA SERIOUS. VRISKA ACTUALLY ASKED FOR HELP FINDING HER.

ML: OH. THAT ACTUALLY DOES SOUND PURTTY BAD. WAS SHE HURT?

CG: NO, BUT CAN YOU GUYS STICK CLOSE TO PORTAL? DAD HAS GUESTS AND I CAN'T HAVE ANYONE SLIPPING THROUGH THERE.

HZ: 8=D Will do. Oh, and Phantom?

CG: YEAH HORUSS?

HZ: 8=D At some point, can we take about modifications we can make to your suit? I think if you want to continue your forays into combat, it will need some upgrades.

Karkat almost felt the instinctual urge to say no, but he gave it some thought. He wasn't wrong. The hazmat suit maybe good for filtering out toxins, but it wasn't built for combat. He needed some kind of armor or maybe something similar to it for it to be viable combat gear.

CG: I'LL THINK ABOUT. ONCE I GET THIS SOLVED, WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT IT.

HZ: 8=D That's all I ask.

Karkat signed out of Ghostian, debating on his next course of action. Aranea had been behaving well enough so far, but that didn't mean she wasn't at whim to her own obsession. And a ghost left alone to that could be extremely dangerous.

"Hey," Karkat was able to silence the room fairly easily, getting up. "I think I'm gonna decompress for a bit. I also probably should check on dad and make sure one of his inventions doesn't blow up in everyone's faces."

"Do thing commonly blow up around here?" Karkat could only shrug at Kanaya's question, which only led her to wondering more. "Well, hopefully nothing has gone wrong down there. Don't be too surprised if our mother acts a little bit weird around you."

"I'll keep that in mind." Karkat carefully walked out of the room, pointing, and giving a stern look towards Sollux and Aradia. "Don't traumatize them too much. Or tell them embarrassing stories about me."

"I promise nothing."

"How dare you guess what we were going to do while you were away!"

Karkat rolled his eyes, moving on. It wasn't like he could do anything to stop them.

* * *

"…Okay, I'll admit that the hover technology is nice. But I refuse to believe that it's run-on ectoplasm."

"Then what do you assume it's running on, fucking pixie dust?"

Spades was two seconds away from kicking the Spectra out of his house. Karkat was pretty impressed that he hadn't kicked her out already. Usually he didn't put up with this bullshit long enough for someone to stay here.

"I'm guessing this has been going on for a while?" Karkat had made it to the bottom of the stairs without incident. Rosa herself looked just as irritated, keeping an eye on the other woman with a twitching eyebrow. "Because if it has been, I think dad deserves a prize."

"I've debated on helping him get her out of here, but I haven't found the proper excuse." Rosa's irritation prevented her from acting awkward, a boon the halfa didn't know he wanted. "I'm surprised he's gotten his work off the ground, but I'm willing to congratulate him for it. She just loves picking at it wherever she goes."

Karkat hummed in response, looking around the lab quickly. He didn't see anything out of place and the portal was closed for the time being. If Aranea wanted out, then she'd have a hard time slipping through.

Why the hell would she want out, anyway? She wouldn't do anything this risky considering she was about to get a little more freedom soon. If anything, this was the time to be careful and pick her battles.

He mentioned a few things going on in their conversation. The cat, some of the stuff involved with Dualscar, and Spectra. Which one of those turned her head? Ghosts can suffer from their obsessions, so maybe it's something related to hers being activated.

A cough caught his attention. He gave a Rosa a raised eyebrow as she seemed to think about what she wanted to say.

"I have to apologize for my strange behavior upstairs. It was a bit of a surprise to see you, among other things that happened today." The older woman sighed. Today had been certainly trying and filled with more surprises than she would've liked. " I suppose I just wasn't exactly ready to be in your presence yet."

"Don't worry about it. I got filled in by Kanaya and Porrim upstairs." It was still weird to think that they were legally his aunts, but it was funny still. His life would make good material for a standup comedy routine. "It isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to me. Living with my dad makes for a few interesting stories at least."

"I guess I can't argue with you there." Rosa looked up at the hovering box that Spades had used as a demonstration for his tech. It had risen up too high by now and she doubted anyone would be able to get it until it ran out of power. "Did he tell you why Spectra was visiting, by chance? She's not exactly into his line of science."

"I was honestly just about to ask." Karkat figured enough was enough, tilting his head as he looked over the red head. "Hey lady?!"

Spectra didn't seem surprised by his intrusion, giving him a glare as he moved closer. "What is it, kid?"

"If you don't mind me asking, but what the hell kind of purpose do you have here?" Karkat would've cleaned up his vocabulary, but Spectra wasn't worth the effort. "Other than shitting on my dad's inventions and field of study, you haven't exactly explained why you're here. Is being a dick to people just how you get your rocks off?"

He could hear a snort from behind him, along with a comment about 'Kankri in customer service all over again.' He decided to ignore it as Penelope just narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm here to make sure your father doesn't cause a mass panic again due to his inventions. He's got way too many people worried about the existence of ghosts." Spectra scoffed, fixing up her hair. "A truly inane thing to be afraid about, quite honestly. Not to mention these sightings of 'ghosts' in this town are obviously due to mass suggestion."

Karkat really wanted to point out those were real ghost attacks, but that would open up a can of worms he couldn't explain properly. Still very tempting though.

"And what, that requires you to act like you're still in high school and the alpha bitch of whatever prep school you went to?" Hopefully harassing her would get her out of here. Not only would it get her out of the way of Aranea, but out of his house for good. "And just what the hell do you plan on doing after this? If you want to get town hall or the rec center for an announcement, I don't think they'll let anything like that happen since dad's presentation."

"I don't have to do any of that. And I don't see why I need to justify what I need to do to a high schooler." Penelope pointed at Karkat, giving Spades the 'Karen' face. "Can you please get your child to behave? People his age shouldn't swear as much as he does."

Spades looked at his son with a deadpan look on his face, not saying anything for a few seconds. He eventually opened his mouth, voice remaining monotone as he 'admonished' him. "No. Please. Son, behave yourself."

Spectra face palmed, earning a cackled from Spades. Karkat almost laughed too, but his paranoia flared. Aranea hasn't made a move yet, which was all the more alarming than her having done something drastic.

Not to mention Spectra was definitely grating on his nerves. Seriously, she didn't seem like she would make a good psychologist. The whole point was to make people feel better about themselves, not drive everyone around you into absolute misery.

…Misery. The stuff that Aranea needs to feed on in order to survive in the human world. Something she has to get out of people when she can, using her psychology knowledge as a bugger.

_Spectra was the factor here._

Karkat took out his phone, contacting Vriska immediately. He had to check if that theory was true.

CG: VRISKA! I NEED TO ASK YOU SOMETHING!

CG: AND TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT IT'S TIME FUCKING SENSITIVE THAT YOU ANSWER IT NOW!

AG: Okay, okay, Jesus Christ. What stick got shoved your ass?

CG: NONE. DID YOUR SISTER KNOW ANYONE BY THE NAME OF PENELOPE SPECTRA?

AG: What, the psychologist visiting your dad? What does she have to do with anything?

CG: ANSWER THE QUESTION.

AG: I mean, I don't know. There was kinda a gap 8etween when we died. I don't know if she met someone like that after my death.

AG: Actually, w8. Is it some 8itchy red head that seems to suck the life out of the room?

CG: THE EXACT FUCKING SAME. SHE'S IN THE LAB RIGHT NOW CLAIMING THAT SHE'S GOING TO DISPROVE MY DAD'S THEORIES OR SOMETHING.

AG: I think she may have 8een Aranea's therapist at some point. She mentioned once that she got some grief counseling that may have ruined her life.

AG: Yeah. It's coming 8ack to me now.

AG: She said that some lady, pro8a8ly Spectra, ran some kind of experiment seeing how certain coping mechanisms effected certain people. Taught her a 8unch of shit that made her 8ecome a total 8itch in school.

CG: AND BY THAT YOU MEAN...

AG: Shit like 8eing a8le to tear people apart with psychology. Hurting other people to make herself feel 8etter. Pretty messed up stuff that made her a little clone of herself.

AG: I think she 8urned every 8ridge she had, and Spectra wrote an entire paper on it. She didn't know until years l8r when it was too l8.

Karkat felt his blood chill as a horrible thought flitted through his mind.

CG: ...VRISKA, DID YOUR SISTER DIE BY SUICIDE?

AG: Hell no. 8ut she certainly wasn't happy a8out it. I think she tried to sue Spectra, 8ut other than causing some flak, it never went anywhere.

AG: ...Oh shit, she's heading your way, isn't she?

CG: YEAH, AND I'M PRETTY SURE IT ISN'T TO SAY HELLO EITHER. I DON'T KNOW WHEN SHE'S GETTING HERE, BUT I HOPE YOU'RE BETTER AT CALMING HER DOWN THAN SHE IS AT CALMING YOU DOWN.

AG: I'll get there as soon as I can. L8r.

Karkat clicked off of Ghostian, looking at the portal with a trepidation now. This officially went from wondering when she'd show up to planning out how to handle an attack. Especially with so many people here in the room.

And with that thought crossing his mind, that's when a red light started blaring near the portal.

"The hell- Something's near the portal!" Spades went over to a table stacked with weapons, grabbing the biggest one he could find. Karkat made a show of grabbing one of the guns too, even if he already had several knives on him. "Rosa, you still know how handle a gun?"

"Excuse me? I mean, yes I do, but what does that have to do with anything?" Rosa had a gun thrown at her, which she caught easily. Karkat was insanely curious to know why she seemed to know how to handle it. "Is there something wrong with the portal?"

"Something's heading towards it at top speed, and I haven't had that happen before. Something obviously wants to get through." Spades had some preparations made for defenses on the portal, but he hadn't made them yet. Installing them would've required heading inside the portal and he wasn't sure how he'd install them. "Spectra, I'd suggest heading upstairs. Maybe get everyone out of here just in case."

"For what, a blinking red light?" Spectra must've been dropped on her head because she obviously didn't see how dangerous this situation was. Karkat debated dragging her out before she became the poster board of Darwin Awards everywhere. "Maybe if you opened up that little portal there and show me how dangerous this all really is-"

A loud bang coming from the portal immediately shut her up. It silenced everyone else too, causing them to tense. Another bang occurred, louder than the first one, and successfully being intimidating.

"Dad, how much can damage can the portal take before something can break through?" Karkat realized he never thought about this before and kicked himself for not doing so. "If whatever it is breaks it down, a lot of ghosts can slip through."

"I don't know. I think we might have to open the damn thing just in case." Having a breach was bad already but having a gaping hole between them and Ghost Zone would be more troublesome. Spades knew it sounded insane, but that was the better solution long term. "Kid, maybe take a few steps back. Open up the portal and I'll start firing as soon as it's opened."

The halfa admittedly didn't like that plan, but he knew it was the only one they had preventing a permanent breach between the Ghost Zone and human realm. He had enough ghosts to fight thanks to Dualscar letting the floodgates open.

He made it over to a computer, keeping an ecto-gun aimed at the portal. With a few practiced keystrokes, he opened it up.

Aranea didn't waste any time slipping through, completely in her shadow form and looking feral as her eyes washed around the room. Spades immediately fired his ecto-gun, followed quickly by the panicked random shots from Rosa.

Karkat braced himself as she immediately flinched, quickly moving towards the ceiling. He fired himself, hitting her and causing her to yell out. She threw a shadowed hand his way, forcing him to dodge. The rain of fire ended up hitting her harder after that as two angry adults turned their attention back to her.

"What in the world?" Spectra was backing away from the ensuing fight, keeping an eye on the creature that was Aranea. "What in the hell is that?!"

Aranea's hears must've burned at the insult, as she turned her attention immediately onto Spectra. She smiled as she moved to the wall opposite of the woman, her head turning around on a swivel.

"_**Penelope."**_

"H-how do you my name?" Spectra watched another volley of shots was thrown at the shadow, Aranea snaking across the walls. "Who are you?!"

Aranea didn't bother answering, deciding to pounce on her prey before it could escape her. In a sudden moved, Aranea moved to the floor, shrinking, and turning her form intangible to avoid the shots from the three assailants. When she was close enough, she got big enough again to grab the woman in one hand.

Karkat turned around to aim a gun at Aranea, but hesitated when she put Spectra in front of her. The mix of Spectra's terrified face, Aranea's manic glee, and the swirling of obsession clear in the ghost's face. The lull in the fighting caused her to chuckle, a horrible sound that showed how far gone she was.

"_**I'm very sorry for the intrusion here, but I needed to come collect something."**_ Aranea gloated, still using Spectra as a hostage. _**"But I think I'll be taking my leave. You all have a good day now, alright?"**_

The ghost went through the ceiling after that, Spectra shouting as they left. Karkat could hear the distant sound of shouting from other people in the house as this happened, but nothing else following it. The halfa should've sent a warning to Sollux and Aradia, but he'd been panicking.

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck." Spades went over to a control panel, closing the portal quickly. He was heading over to separate tables, looking for any trackers he could use. "What the fuck was that all about? How the hell did the ghost know she was even here?"

"That's what a ghost looked like?" Rosa was just as worried about Spectra, but this whole thing left her with more questions than before. "A lot different than what I was imagining. Do you know where it went?"

"I don't know, but I'll find the damn thing! Tear it apart molecule by molecule when I do!"

Karkat barely registered the conversation taking place behind him, cursing himself out internally. He couldn't believe how he let this happen.

If he hadn't said as much about Spectra earlier, maybe this could've been avoided. Aranea wouldn't have gone obsession-crazy and wouldn't have put not only Spectra in danger, but herself.

Karkat knew two things right now; this was the worst possible situation, and it was all completely his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly, I don't have much to say here. I do think I'll come up with Aranea playlist at some point, but you'll have to wait for it until next chapter. Things are good for me right now, but good surprises are surprises all the same.
> 
> I'll see you all next chapter!


	33. Psychotic Psychiatric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the end of this little arc. I think it really does get into some of the characters that I haven't had the time to expand upon yet and really move them forward. It really does get like that with a large cast like this, but I do try to get everyone in there when I can.
> 
> Without further ado, let's get on with the chapter!

Considering he was technically a superhero, Karkat was very familiar with the feeling of anxiety. Everything going wrong all the time, generally not sure about his humanity, along with every person being out to get you or having some kind of secret tends to make someone lowkey anxious every moment.

Karkat was currently not anxious. He was outright panicking.

With government worker taken by a ghost he knew was technically dangerous, whereabouts unknown, along with what Aranea actually planned on doing to Spectra, he figured it was justified.

Spades had started gearing up, getting all of his trackers and weapons ready. He was also arguing with Rosa about whether or not they should call the police, with his dad being kinda right in saying that they wouldn't help. Lack of ghost weapons and a simple _belief_ in ghosts were not a good combination.

Karkat just listened as his dad kept ranting about how they won't take his calls anymore, anyway, watching as the other Maryam's were keeping their panic poorly contained.

"I think mom might need to buy an anti-ghost security system for the daycare here. I can't believe that'll be a legitimate business expense, but at least the kids would be safe."

"Porrim, I think this is the only time you've ever wanted to talk about the family business without being completely sarcastic about it. It's not like you to worry about the children that much. I'm not sure if I'm proud or not."

"I just saw a living shadow with eight eyes kidnap a grown ass woman, of course I'm scared for the children."

Karkat would've loved to watch this further, but he was currently trying to plan out Spectra's funeral. Seriously, why didn't he start noticing signs that things were about to go really wrong? Everything went wrong in his life!

"Seems like a lot of people heard a woman screaming all across town." Sollux kept checking his phone, looking over social media for some kind of news. "Nobody's seen anything, but everyone's getting really curious."

Translation: They needed to find here as soon as possible before somebody else did.

"And it seems like everybody is still posting about that giant cat that showed up earlier today." Aradia cringed at some of the blurry photos she was seeing of the incident. "The whole screaming thing is just adding more fuel to the fire, honestly."

Second translation: Shit had already hit the fan and the current rotation of it was sending it flying everywhere.

Yeah, Karkat was doing his best to come up with a plan but considering they had so many things on their plate right now, this was going to be interesting.

His phone buzzed. He checked on the Ghostian app.

AG: I'm at the portal entrance. Get me out and we'll search for my sister.

Karkat took in a deep breath. Maybe now wasn't the time for thinking. He should just act.

"Hey, dad?" Karkat got up quickly, grabbing one of the trackers around the kitchen, waving it lightly. "Maybe we should all split up and try to search up the ghost that way. We got a big enough group to cover most of the town."

"Kid, I'm not sending anyone out to fight that thing. Besides, you've been having bad luck with ghosts lately." Looks like Spades still had the forest incident on his mind. It wasn't like he was wrong either. "I really don't know what it is, but you've been getting into the thick of it lately."

"I'm not going to try and fight it! Seriously, what do you take me for?" Karkat really wished that weren't a lie, but that was the way the world was. "I'm just saying, if we cast a wide enough net, we'll find the ghost much faster."

"He's not necessarily wrong there, Spades. As much as I don't like Spectra, I'd rather she didn't have to go through whatever that thing wants to do with her." Rosa had a tracker of her own in her grasp, nervously eyeing. "At least it looks like your equipment should work. Laser guns and hover technology. What a strange place."

Spades wanted to protest more but stopped when he looked at the clock. Any time wasted meant a higher possibility Spectra would be hurt. Sighing, he ran a hand down his face.

"Fine. Take some ghost weapons just in case, but don't actively start something you can't finish." He pointed at the basement before heading towards the front door. "Grab some stuff for the others. Something easy for Porrim and Kanaya."

The perfect excuse to get inside the lab without people questioning. Vriska would be able to join them after all.

"I'll get right on it." Karkat already had a few ideas what the other Maryam's could use safely. Hopefully, they wouldn't mind his suggestion that much. "Just be careful if you do find them."

It wasn't like Spades would find her first. Karkat was going to make sure it was him and Vriska that did. Whether that meant subduing her violently or not would be determined later.

He just hoped that whatever Aranea was planning on doing, it would take a long time before it actually hurt Spectra.

* * *

Spectra wasn't exactly sure when she had passed out after the shadow creature grabbed her, but the feeling of grogginess as she slowly woke up. A chill went up her spine, her breath visible as she opened her eyes slowly.

She reflexively jerked as the memories resurfaced, though her arms barely moved. She looked down to see that she had been tied up tight in old looking bandages, keeping her in place. The sight immediately set her in a panic, making her look around.

The sight that greeted her was grim to say the least. The room she was in looked close to the therapy rooms hospitals housed for their doctors. It had the comfy chairs for the therapist and the patient to sit in for long periods of time, a wooden desk for the long stay therapists, and it even had the neutral colors painted on every wall.

The difference was that it looked positively run down. Paint was chipping away, the chair she was in was barely holding itself up, and the only light in the room was coming through windows with hole filled curtains.

"Ah, you're finally awake! I was wondering how long you would make me wait."

Spectra was two seconds away from snarling at that voice, though it died before it could even leave her throat. Aranea walked into the room casually, closing and locking the door behind her before moving to the desk. She stood out among the surroundings, looking immaculate compared to room.

"It's certainly been a while since we last talked, though I'm pretty sure we can easily get back to where we left off." The blonde smiled pleasantly, ignoring the silent stare coming from Spectra. "Though, I think I'll be the one taking the reins this time. I hope you don't mind being in the patients chair for once."

"Aranea?" Spectra's thoughts had finally caught up with her mouth, face going rigid as she looked the girl over. "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead."

"Oh, you'd be surprised how easy it is to change that. It took a long time, but I considering only one of us here has actually aged, I'd say it's worth it." Aranea clasped her hands, looking over the older woman. "I should probably ask, but are you comfortable? It's only a cursory question, I can't really do anything about the furniture."

"How the hell are you here? I went to your funeral a long time ago. I watched you get buried." Spectra didn't seem to register what the blonde was saying, which irritated the ghost immensely. She tried moving out of her bonds, looking around for an exit. "This isn't possible. You can't be her. If you were, you'd be so much older. You'd look exactly like your mother-"

"_**Don't talk about her!"**_

Spectra flinched back as the young woman slammed her hands onto the desk, face turning into the eight eyed shadow for a few seconds. She could hear the wood crack under the pressure.

Aranea did force her temper down, a smile forming on her face to portray that. It felt more like she was trying to show her teeth to a lesser predator, to scare it away from a fight it wouldn't win.

"I would refrain from talking about my family. Not only is it unprofessional, but it's also rude to back talk." The ghost adjusted her glasses, pleasant demeanor slipping back onto her face. "Plus, you went to a ghost hunters house, Penelope. What did you expect to find there?"

The realization sent another chill down the grown woman's spine. That, or the expelling of cold air that made the windows frost over. Was that coming from Aranea? Something told her yes, even if that thought scared her more.

"Anyway, I think this conversation has been long overdue." Aranea pulled out a folder, though Spectra was unsure where she got it. "This time, I believe I'll be the one asking the questions here. Starting with your little experiment on me."

"The psychological experiments? That's what you're mad about?" Spectra hadn't thought about for years. The results to that had been published several years ago and she hadn't thought about it since. "That's-that's a bit strange to hold on to. I mean, it did contribute to psychology as a whole."

"Psychology can go to hell, Penelope. Especially since you virtually ruined my entire life before I died." Aranea's eyes narrowed as she pulled out a hard copy of said study. " I also don't appreciate how you used my real name in this. Also, this data should be thrown out since you _taught me_ several of those 'negative coping mechanisms.'"

"Alright, maybe you do have a point there." Spectra wasn't sure how to get out of this, trying to think back to every session she had with the girl. "But that's far in the past! If anything, you're old enough to know how silly this plot is."

"Who said this was a plot of mine? This is a crime of passion, quite honestly." Aranea flipped through the study. She stopped to read the comments that pertained to herself, reading over them carefully before turning another page. "You brought this on yourself. I'm just surprised karma hasn't gotten to you already."

"But-but you can't do this!" Spectra had used up all of her arguments by now. She tried twisting out of her restraints once more, the chair clacking against the floor. "People know that I'm missing! You kidnapped me in broad daylight, you really think-"

Aranea calmly tapped the woman on the head, putting her into a trance. Aranea made sure that the woman could see and hear everything around her but couldn't do anything about it. It would be troublesome if she decided to start screaming.

"I _can_ do this, Penelope. And no one is going to look for a woman kidnapped by a literal ghost. You know that." Aranea flipped through the study more before closing it, glaring at the title. Maybe she'd find a way to burn all the copies later. "You taught me quite a bit before I died, you know. You taught me how to hurt other people. You taught me how to turn my own mother away. You even taught me how to turn people against themselves."

Aranea felt the pulse of her obsession flit from her core. If it hadn't been acting up, she would've realized how insane this was. But the pulse of it kept her mind focused on this, for better or worse.

"Now I'm going to put those teaching to good use."

* * *

"We were so close to getting off parole." Vriska mumbled, flying through the air invisibly. She mostly followed Karkat, though kept her eyes peeled for her sister. "Obsessions or not, she had to pull this shit? For fuck's sake."

"Look, your case should be fine as long as you don't try anything while you're out here. I can't really say anything for Aranea." Karkat wondered how Redglare would react to this. He suspected that the older Serket would be in a good heap of trouble for this. "She might need to be stuck on house arrest depending on what she's doing to Spectra. She wouldn't kill her, right?"

"No? I mean, she hated her, but I don't think she'd go that route." Vriska didn't sound completely sure, which did nothing to reassure Karkat at all. Probably why she decided to change the subject. "Why'd you pick this part of town again? It kind of looks like shit."

She wasn't wrong, though he did feel his town pride rile up at the jab. He picked the more rundown part of town as his "section" when they were dividing up where to look for Spectra and the ghost that kidnapped her. He had a feeling Aranea would want a place where they wouldn't be disturbed, and this part of town had some abandoned places far away enough from civilization.

"I have a theory on where she might've gone. Besides, it keeps my dad and the Maryam's far away from the action." Karkat reminded himself to message Aradia and Sollux when he did find Aranea's location. They were in a neighboring section, so they could get here and alert everyone else, so he'd have time to neutralize the situation. "And don't dodge the question. This is serious. If your sister does something irreversible, Redglare will put her away for good."

"I really don't think Aranea will kill her." Vriska paused, thinking it over. She decided to add onto it. "She wouldn't do it immediately, at least. I think she'd probably want to draw things out before she committed to that."

He really didn't like the sound of that. "Drawing it out" can mean a lot of things and none of them were exactly good when it came to a powerful ghost capturing a human.

"Is what Spectra did really that bad? I can't imagine she's actually done something worse this amount of revenge." This had been bothering him since this all started. Aranea was the more reserved and controlled Serket, so this reaction must've been tied to something horrible. "I know what you said earlier, but that doesn't exactly get specifically into what's wrong."

"It's… It's complicated. It started not long after I died." Vriska wasn't sure where to begin on that, but she just shrugged. Better he had context than not. "Did you know that I used to be the older sister before I died? Only by a year or two, still older."

He didn't know that something which he notified with only a short shake of his head. He couldn't really imagine her as the best kind of influence, quite honestly. Then again, Aranea probably learned to do the opposite of whatever Vriska did.

"I died at a pretty damn young age. There's no denying that. And since it was only me, her, and my mom, my loss apparently hit her pretty damn hard for some reason." Vriska shrugged. She didn't try to think of the details of her death too often, especially the aftermath. "After they both got into a depressive episode, they eventually started therapy. Spectra wasn't Aranea's first one, but she was definitely the last one.

"Apparently she seemed pretty nice when they first met. Spectra always agreed with everything she said, encouraged certain things she liked to do, and even got her interested in psychology." The ghost sighed, eyes pulsing with energy. "Apparently those first two things were what Spectra was after."

"You mean the study Spectra was conducting?"

"Exactly. Turns out she wanted to see the results of negative coping mechanisms on a grieving youth. Short and long term. That included lots of things." Vriska started counting on her fingers. The story had been told to her multiple times when Aranea was overly tired or in a similar state. "Isolating herself for long periods of time. Cutting off friendships she'd made a long time ago. Everything."

"…Everything?"

"Aranea wised up at some point before Spectra could outright suggest drugs or alcohol. It was sometime before college that she figured out something was wrong." Vriska let out a breath. "She tried to sue her sometime after she turned eighteen. Like I said before, the case went on for several years before being left out. She even told me she was heading to the courthouse to make them reconsider when… when she died."

Car crash. A random accident. Still tragic, though in a different way than he expected.

Vriska was quiet for a little bit. She thought things over before something decided to slip out, most likely without her permission.

"I think my family is cursed with having the best luck sometimes, but the worst luck at others. Hell, look at the two of us." She laughed hollowly, lacking any real mirth or pain to it. It formed a pit in Karkat's stomach. "Both of us died miserable and through horrible circumstances, but we eventually came back and found each other. I don't know statistics that well, but I can't say the chances of that are high at all."

Yeah. Chance. Like her Aspect.

Maybe Light was a more fitting Aspect of hers than he thought.

His phone buzzed, tearing him from his line of thought. The halfa grabbed it checking to see what it meant.

FAA: n0 mercy.

Karkat blinked at that, wondering if Future Aradia was telling him to kill Aranea for a second. Then a thought entered his mind, confirming his hypothesis from earlier.

"I think I know where she is." Karkat sped up before the blonde could respond, prompting her to join him. They'd already been heading there, so it didn't take long to find the location on sight. "I was right. She decided to pick a pretty thematic place."

Karkat looked over the remains of the abandoned hospital, frowning to himself as the town lore crossed his mind once again.

North Mercy Hospital hadn't been a big place when it had been founded, but it was one of the few care facilities in town before other hospitals came up. It was one of the oldest buildings in Amity Park and used to be the most trusted.

That ended sometime in the early 1960's caused a huge outbreak, leading to mass quarantines and panic in the town. When the majority of it died down, it was found to have started in North Mercy due to poor conditions. Their handling of said patients, which had been negligent at first to severe later on, led to mass anger and the eventual closing of the facility. The sign at the front of it showed the nickname it got years after it closed.

"No Mercy Hospital?" Vriska narrowed her eyes, looking at the halfa in disbelief. "Are you sure this place wasn't haunted before your dad opened that portal?"

"Haunted? Nah." Karkat sighed, smoke coming out of his mouth and through the gas mask. Aranea was here after all. "But I have to admit, this place is fucking cursed."

The wind was his only response to that joke.

* * *

"And what exactly made you decide on the psychology track when you went into college?" Aranea kept writing down her notes, a long trail of things she picked on growing by the minute. "You certainly don't seem to be the altruistic type. You didn't help your parents as much as you could've."

"Money, mostly. I wanted to get my own income easily and growing up without money made me want a lot of it." Spectra said it in a monotone. Aranea had kept her under tight control the entire time, if only to make the psychological dissection easier. "Considering the large demand back home, I figured it would be a good start."

"That is true. Taking care of a child would set your parents back a bit. I can't imagine you going into such a field would've helped with that." Aranea fought back a smile as the woman's eyes twitched. "I really hope it didn't take you long to get it that degree of yours."

The process she decided to commit to was very much like the one she had done to her many years ago. Pick apart at every little thought, every insecurity, and turn it outward for everyone to see. Make her the most miserable she would ever be, like how she was when she was a kid.

Aranea would've never really done this in her right mind. She did have to bring people down sometimes when she worked on to get her dose of misery, but never enough to actually hurt long term.

She didn't even know what she'd do after this now that she thought about it. Aranea did want to make Spectra feel everything she did, but now that some of the fog was clearing her mind, she realized she was right when she said this wasn't planned at all. Maybe she could-

_ **(kill her)** _

…Aranea blinked, her obsessions faltering for a second. That wasn't part of the plan. She was on parole. Killing someone wouldn't do anything good for her, much less Vriska.

…Wait, what was she doing now? The ghost blinked at Spectra, who had kept babbling after she had asked a question. Did she kidnap this woman? Dear lord, she lost control of herself, didn't she? All she remembered was Karkat mentioning Spectra and she blanked out.

A deep sense of cold floated through her. The ghost couldn't help but be reminded of the crash, how it happened in the winter. It had been early enough, and the roads had been closed, meaning nobody would find her. She had survived the initial crash, but the cold eventually got to her. She wondered if it was just as cold for Vriska-

_ **(she needs to feel everything)** _

-would probably wonder where she was! She didn't even leave a note about her patient. How silly of her. She probably was worried sick!

"Aranea! Are you in here? We're just here to talk."

Oh, looks like she decided to visit her today! Strange, she usually didn't do that. Aranea really should've left a note after all. She must've been worried.

"Serket, we need you to give up Spectra! This isn't how you try and get justice."

Vantas too? She wasn't aware those two were friends. Then again, they seem to be chatting with each other more often, so maybe this wasn't too surprising. She should really go down there and-

_ **(not finished, can't let them stop it)** _

-make sure they didn't get in the way. She wasn't done with Spectra yet.

Aranea got up suddenly, Spectra stopping her incessant chattering. Aranea snapped her fingers, making the woman go into a deep sleep.

Wordlessly, she headed towards the door, phasing through it as shadows slipped onto her arms. Her obsession droned in her head, like a siren loud enough to vibrate in someone's bones. The temperature around her dropped.

And deep within her mind, her rational side continued trying to scream.

* * *

"Seriously? This isn't how you try and get justice?" Vriska punched him in the arm before looking at the wreck of a hospital. "I know you're supposed to be a superhero, but how corny can you get?"

"It's not supposed to be profound. I'm just trying to get her attention." Karkat really didn't like being here. The rot to this place creeped him out, even if his gas mask prevented him from breathing it in. "I just hope she hasn't done anything stupid. How long would she try and draw things out?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her go obsession-crazy before, so this is kind of new territory for me." Vriska handled her guitar with a tight hand. She wasn't joking about it being the first time. "If anything, you've got more experience than I do. You've had to deal with it, what, six times by now?"

"_**Does that count when he went obsessions-crazy himself, or did we just forget about that?"**_

Karkat growled as Vriska pulled her guitar closer to herself. Aranea must've found them first.

"_**I really don't understand why we don't talk about that more. Considering I was almost decapitated because of it, I certainly haven't forgot it."**_ Aranea stuck to the shadows, and Karkat couldn't see her directly. He could barely see her slinking across certain walls, toying with them. _**"And yet, it's a bad thing when I give in to my own obsession? I really don't understand your logic here."**_

"Aranea, I won't claim that this is any different to my freak out, but that just makes it all the more important that you don't do this." Karkat slowly brought a sickle, keeping it to his side. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd finished it. You won't be able to live with yourself if you do anything permanent."

"You're forgetting we're dead, right? We've been dead for a long ass time now." Vriska's joke only got her a glare from Karkat. "Alright, fine. He's not wrong, Aranea. Besides, you're on parole right now and you don't want to get on Redglare's bad side."

"Listen to your sister! If she thinks it's a bad idea, then you should know that it's a _really _bad one." Karkat received a glare in return. But hey, fair is fair. "Aradia and Sollux are on their way too. And if that doesn't convince you, a lot more people armed with ghost weapons will fall behind soon enough. Don't push this."

"_**I don't think I'm going to listen to you. This whole superhero thing is just a distraction for you, and I feel like we need to talk about that." **_A large, shadowy hand suddenly grabbed Vriska without warning. Aranea didn't look at her sister as she reared her hand back. _**"Can you give us a moment, Vriska?"**_

She didn't bother waiting for an answer, throwing her sister out of the hospital. Vriska thankfully had time to go intangible before she could hit anything. Karkat sincerely hoped the fact she warned Vriska meant that Aranea hadn't gone completely over the edge.

"Why does it always have to end in violence, Aranea? You're supposed to be the smart one here." Karkat raise the sickle, pouring his ecto-energy into it. "And yet all roads lead to this."

A chair was thrown his way, leaving no more room for conversation. Karkat sliced it in half with a swing of ecto-energy, throwing a few more blasts as he flew upwards. Aranea dodged with a slither, sending ice spikes his way.

"_**Do you want to know something "Phantom?" This whole superhero exercise isn't an act of good faith on your part." **_Aranea threw an ecto-blast his way before continuing to dodge. _**"You're just trying to distract yourself from all the things going on around. Being a superhero is just a coping mechanism."**_

Karkat threw several ecto-blasts, all of which she dodged. When she got close enough, she tried swinging at him, missing barely. This opened up to him trying to swing at her, his blade missing her by an inch.

"_**Your life has certainly become a long line of trauma's, hasn't it? Your death, the constant fighting, dealing with the ramifications of life after death. It's just been one thing after another for you."**_

Aranea grew her hands bigger, slamming both of them together in order to squash him. He was able to slip past, though the force caused him to hit a wall hard. Cracking under his weight, he launched off of it with his feet, the added speed allowing him to punch her in the gut. She growled before continuing.

"_**But instead of actually **_**dealing **_**with those feelings, what do you do? You take that frustration and trauma and take it out on other ghosts. You increase the fighting all around you by making it everyone else's problem, even when your "help" isn't needed."**_

Karkat knew what she was doing. She was trying to get into his head, make him more likely to screw up. He wouldn't let her to do that.

He got behind her after a particularly heavy swing, grabbing a table and hitting her in the back with it. It broke into pieces as it connected, though she had enough time to back hand him with one of her transformed hands. He flew back but caught himself before he could fly down the hallway.

"_**It's pointless aggression! And considering your family, maybe that shouldn't be a surprise. Your father certainly isn't the best role model when it comes to dealing with these things, isn't he?"**_

"Shut up."

Karkat got close before he fired ecto-blasts into her chest, knocking her back. He let out some more, some hitting before she eventually recovered, dodging, and slithering across the walls and floors. A few ice spikes were sent his way for the trouble.

"_**Oh, don't pretend that I'm not right here. The man not only killed you, but Oberon too. How does it feel, knowing the one person you trust most killed two people? And the only other victim doesn't want anything to do with you except if it involves getting revenge on him."**_

Karkat growled, something which he couldn't help but kick himself for. He said he wouldn't react to this. This wasn't her actually speaking, this was her obsession talking.

That didn't stop him from breaking a spike and throwing it her way. The blunt end hit her shoulder, allowing him to throw more. This ended with her getting hit harder by them as she recovered from the first.

"_**He made you what you are today. Neither a human nor a ghost. You will **_**never **_**fully fit in with the rest of us. You're not even accepted by one of your own kind."**_

The halfa would regret letting his next swing go wild there, his rage coming to the surface unheeded. The blunt end of his sickle tried to connect with her shoulder, though she barely moved to dodge it. Aranea hit him in the gut with a blast of her own, followed by throwing him into the wall.

"_**What is a halfa, I wonder? Are you just some ghost that can't handle what happened to you,"**_

She grabbed him before he could recover, shoving him into the ground. A multitude of eyes looked into his red ones; his face contorted into rage as hers split into a fanged smile.

"_**Or are you just some creep little kid with creepy little powers?"**_

Karkat felt his rage spike.

"I said," He put his legs under her, rearing them before kicking them. "Shut. Up!"

His kicked connected with her gut, causing Aranea to hit the ceiling hard. Before she could react, the halfa flew up, grabbing the ghost by the throat as he forced her through the ceiling up into the second floor, having it crumble under the pressure. He threw her to the side, hitting her with a continuous ecto-blast from both hands. It sent her through the wall and into a locked room.

Karkat flew on in, barely noticing that Aranea had shifted into her more human form, trying to get onto unsteady legs. He raised a hand holding a sickle, ready to swing before…

"Karkat, stop!"

A guitar got in the way of the sickle, the blunt end of the weapon causing it to crack as Vriska stopped him from nearly giving Aranea brain damage. Vriska was even able to put her sister into literal ice before she could escape.

"Okay, you won't hear this from me any other time, but I think it's time to stop fighting." Vriska held up as the halfa's eyes switched to her, his grip on the sickle only tightening. She smiled nervously as he pulled back, narrowing his eyes at her. "You should cool off, dude. I'll get her to see some sense."

Karkat wanted to argue, feeling the insane urge just to _literally_ knock some sense into Aranea himself, but stopped himself. His blood was boiling, and he knew he couldn't do this without being emotionally compromised.

"Fine. I'm going to find Spectra, though. She better not be hurt." Karkat knew he was being harsh, but he really didn't feel like he was in the mood to get himself in line. "I'm reporting all of this to Redglare. Obsession or not, this was all horrible."

"We'll be waiting on it." Vriska sighed as the halfa disappeared through a wall. She didn't know what pissed him off so much, but she figured it was something Aranea said. She was pretty good at it, in the worst way possible. "You really have fucked this up, sis. Maybe you should go on ice for a little bit."

"_**You should've let me finish up here first."**_ Aranea growled, trying to get out of the ice prison. Vriska couldn't help but note that she was crying. _**"I told you everything she did. She deserves than what I gave her."**_

"Yeah, she definitely does. But I think you've done enough. Besides," Vriska shrugged, bitterly laughing to herself. "I used to be the older sister. I gotta set an example sometimes."

Her only response to that joke was shouting and the wind going on loudly outside.

* * *

When Kanaya had been called about how Spectra had been found, she was simultaneously happy, yet somehow disappointed by the anticlimax. Of course, the former was highly dominant over the latter, but there were some factoids that fueled the latter.

While Spectra had been found by Karkat and his friends, the ghost had apparently disappeared without a trace. Not only had the tracker not found anything, the reason they found her was because she was just standing on the side of the road. Wherever the living shadow went, it was gone.

The second fact that made her feel restless was the fact that Spectra, while physically unharmed, had barely said anything since she was found. It started out as a trance, but when she finally started acting normally, she kept tight lipped about the entire thing. Mumbled something about patients, studies, along with a string of nonsense that made little sense.

It was clear she was traumatized by whatever happened but unwilling to say what those events were.

Kanaya watched as the policemen they called talked to her, most likely getting the same result they did. Spades had been honest about everything, which didn't help, so she honestly wondered what they'd put in the reports.

"Are you just as confused as I am about what the hell's going on around here?" Porrim had finally gotten done talking to the police, moving to sit with her sister. Kanaya was actually glad for the company. "I think I've had enough for one day, personally."

"And yet, I feel like we've done very little to fix anything." Kanaya sighed deeply. Porrim certainly wasn't wrong, though she felt almost too passive in everything that happened. "As much as I hope this never happens again, if it does, I do want a more prominent role next time."

"Yeah, well, you might get your chance. I think mom is angling to make an extended visit here if at all possible." Porrim jerked her head to Rosa, who was talking to Spades about defense systems against ghosts. "She says that there are a few things she needs to set up for the daycare here, but I think she's staying for Karkat. Probably wants to keep an eye on him or something."

Kanaya did have to admit, that wasn't exactly an unappealing thought. She did want more opportunities to know Karkat more since he was, in a strange way, family. Not to mention this place would provide a few interesting psychological studies she could use for college.

"I'm not sure if I agree with her motives there, but it can't be too unpleasant to live here. Mind you, we should probably arm ourselves against ghosts." The poised girl really wished that wasn't a sentence she had to utter, but this was reality now. "Where is Karkat, by the way?"

It didn't take long to actually spot him, though it seems like he migrated away from the group a good bit. He was talking to two blondes a little way away. He looked notably less irritated than he was a little while ago, but he still seemed pissed off.

"Wanna go talk to them?" Porrim "innocently" offered. "Might be a good idea to know the locals better if we're going to live here."

"You just want to talk to the tall one because her skirt is short." Kanaya rolled her eyes as Porrim didn't bother looking offended by the insinuation. "Though, why not. Maybe they even go to school here."

The Maryam's walked their way over, something that Karkat seemed to notice immediately. He waved at the two of them with a strained smile, almost visually changing his tune.

"Hey Kanaya, Porrim. Really glad you haven't decided to high tail it out of here just yet." Karkat waved at the two blondes' behind him. "I was just catching up with these two. Any change in Spectra?"

"Nothing much. She still seems pretty out of it so far. The police are planning on getting her out of here soon." Porrim noticed the elder of the two women winced, almost looking guilty. "I'm guessing you just saw the flashing lights. Crazy, I know. I'm guessing this doesn't happen a lot around here."

"Hmm?" The older blonde blinked, looking dazed. Kanaya couldn't help but think she looked tired, as if someone just woke her out of a deep slumber. "Oh, right. Some strange things have been going on, but this does take the cake a bit."

"Aranea, we've only lived her for a few months. This town might be filled with people doing crack or something." Kanaya couldn't help but note the rude one had an eyepatch. She seemed familiar somehow, though she couldn't remember where she'd seen her. "I mean, I haven't seen any. That hospital might make a good one, though…"

"Vriska, please stop. Save it for comedy club or something." Karkat rolled his eyes, obviously used to smaller blonde's personality. He looked at Aranea, face going stern for a little bit. "Aranea, I'd suggest taking a few days off. You're barely standing on your own feet right now."

Another wince this time. Kanaya figured it was out of awkwardness, but it looked guilty once again. Did she overwork a lot?

"I'll be sure too." Aranea seemed eager to get out of the conversation, turning around to head down the empty street. "Sorry to be rude, but I do have leave right now. I hope you two enjoy Amity Park!"

"Or don't! It's kind of a hellhole around here!" Vriska went to follow her sister, waving goodbye with very little care. "If you like that, then this place it perfect for you!"

Kanaya raised an eyebrow at their odd behavior, though that was replaced with slight alarm when she heard rapid footsteps come up behind them. They all turned to find Spectra moving towards them, out of breath.

"Who was that?" Spectra's eyes were wild, looking everywhere as if there was something hiding behind every corner. "Was that her? She couldn't be here. I had to have imagined it."

"Uh, ma'am? Miss Spectra?" Karkat raised his arms, catching the red heads attention quickly. He looked ready to grab her just in case. "Shouldn't you still be with the officers? You're still shock right now, and I don't think you should leave them until you're better."

"But she was right there! Was that other girl her sister?" Kanaya perked up at that. Did Spectra know those two? "She shouldn't be here either. How are they here?"

"You know what, I'm going take you back to the police." Karkat gingerly moved the traumatized woman away from them, giving the Maryam's an awkward smile. "Sorry. We'll have to talk later. I'll see you around town?"

Kanaya nodded dumbly, watching the boy walk away with the Spectra. She looked behind her, noting that Aranea and Vriska had already disappeared somehow. She didn't know why, but the fact that they vanished so quickly made her uneasy.

"Man, this place is weird." Porrim echoed Kanaya's thought without meaning too, looking around at the small town. "I think I'll like it here, though. Seems like it'll keep us busy for a good while."

Kanaya agree with her whole heartedly at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! I think that may have been bit quick, but I felt like some of this was needed. I really wanted to do some stuff differently, but again, I am working on introducing everyone one way or another. A large cast means some people will be left out of the spotlight sometimes.
> 
> Also; we got more playlists! Hopefully you all enjoy these, cause some of them are either overdue or fitting. Remember, I do have to stretch some since I try not to repeat songs during multiple playlists.
> 
> Aranea: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/191lwqJqYEZ6UoPtjQPHCU
> 
> Rosa: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4DwVT3mg02Qefupcm25xnO
> 
> Porrim: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3xYnobd2hm8LNIbBcD1JdO
> 
> Kanaya: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5E5o6Wf33M7aN31cxzxuep
> 
> Hopefully you'll take a listen and I'll see you all next chapter!


	34. Authors Note (Wonky Updates)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relax. Just read the note.

Alright, for everyone reading this, don't panic; the stories I've posted this authors note too are still ongoing.

I'm going to be quick about this; I've got some good news! After a long time of job hunting and looking for a new place, I've found a job that I think would be good for my career. While it is out of state where I'm from, it is finally something out of a long time of searching.

This note is mostly to warn anyone reading this right now that updates might get a bit wonky since I'll be busy moving and getting ready for the job. The stories are still going on and I don't intend on leaving them. I just need to make sure you guys know this before things start getting pretty chaotic.

Though I do think it might be a risky opportunity, I've been forced to make sure no gap is in my resume by doing my schooling, along with online work. If it doesn't work out, I'll have moved to a place with more jobs anyway. The place I'm currently at isn't working for me and I think this will be a good thing for me.

Again, I'm putting this note out there to make sure you know what's happening. Please be patient and I hope you all stay when updates become stable again.


	35. Teachers Assistant of the Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Sorry this is late, but I'm sure you've read the authors note I posted earlier already. You already know what's happening. I'm honestly glad I was able to post this at all, even if it isn't all that exciting.
> 
> Either way, posts will keep coming, though things are still chaotic right now. Smoothly, but moving is chaotic. But they're still coming.
> 
> Without further adieu, I hope you enjoy!

Despite the random events happening around Amity Park, things remained relatively calm around town. Though, if that calm was tinged with a bit of anticipation, it was something everyone pretended not to notice. That was the thing about small towns; a sense of foreboding solidarity that could break if someone got careless.

So, when Kanaya quickly enrolled into Casper High, along with the other two Maryam's deciding to take their businesses here for now, Karkat decided to distract himself with that.

"And this is the gym. I probably don't need to explain what this is for." Karkat waved his hand lazily at the place, shrugging nonchalantly. Despite volunteering for this, he really hoped that he wouldn't have to welcome wagon every new student from then on. "Casper High isn't exactly the most high tech of places, but it's a good school anyway. At least the teachers aren't negligent."

"It has been a while since been to an actual brick and mortal school." Kanaya awkwardly added. She fiddled with some of her recently acquired books. "It seems like a very interesting place. Hopefully no ghosts pop up…"

Karkat and Kanaya cringed at the mention of it but kept going. It'd been like this all day anyway.

Both were a little ashamed to admit it, but they'd been pretty awkward with each other since they first met, something that didn't appear likely to change. It wasn't that they didn't like each other, it was just the weird things that had to surround their meeting. Ghosts, weird family drama, and the fact that Kanaya was technically Karkat's aunt made for a weird combination.

That's why he made sure Aradia and Sollux would help him.

"Ah, yes, Casper High. The most mediocre place on Earth." Sollux sarcastically remarked. He didn't really believe that, but he did believe in being dramatic, so he had to say something to that effect. "I really hope you don't hope for accolades here. Brightest minds don't really form around here often, except myself."

"Don't listen to him. You get one near perfect score on the SAT's and suddenly you compare yourself to god." Aradia rolled her eyes, laughing quietly. They weren't joking about the SAT score, but again, they were exaggerating. "I would avoid some people that are around here, though. Some are just toxic as all hell."

"That can't be entirely true." Kanaya said in what the group could only call a "mom voice." Whether it was the tone or the way she said it, that was they officially decided to call it. "No one is toxic without reason."

"Yeah, but some of them just hate us, so you might want to look out if they figure out we're related. Especially the goth kids." Karkat mumbled to himself for the next part, eyeing Aradia. "Though, that's mostly Aradia's doing. She keeps on pranking them every couple of weeks because of it.

"Hey, it's not my fault they decided to encourage me to keep doing some really bad habits back when I was thirteen. I'm just getting even." The girl didn't bother mentioning that the split had been years ago. "Though, there is only one person I can say you should really avoid talking to."

"Trizza Tethis. She's what you might call the Queen Bee, but she doesn't actually control all that much around here. And that it's an insult to bee's themselves." Sollux rolled his eyes. He really hated that saying. Why did everything related to bees have to negative? "Her dad is rich and spoils the hell out of her, along with funding some things within town. That makes her think she has leeway in everything."

Coincidentally, they couldn't help but overhear some very loud chattering coming down from another hallway. They stopped, recognizing the voice being the one person they'd told her to avoid.

"Speak of the devil, and she appears wearing Prada. Let's go help whatever poor souls decided to end up in her path today." Aradia already hurried over and looked past the wall, acting like this was a stealth mission. She snorted, though her amusement was piled under pity as she looked back at them. "It's Feferi and Eridan. They _do not_ look happy to be there."

The others caught up, eventually getting a glance for themselves. She wasn't lying, as Tethis was currently talking the two other rich kid's ears off. It was a testament to Feferi's patience that she was able to keep up a calm front, though the strained smile was obvious. Eridan looked like he'd checked out much earlier, most likely as a way to not incinerate Tethis where she stood.

With some faint amusement, Karkat couldn't help but feel like they went through the final right of passage when it came to living in Amity Park. Everyone had to deal with Tethis at least once in their lives.

"Come on, let's help them out before ED explodes. It would be funny, but I'm not in the mood to deal with a temper tantrum today." Sollux pulled out his phone, already having a plan in mind. "You guys wouldn't mind distracting her, right?"

"Let's do it. No one deserves to deal with Tethis." Karkat was being truthful, though he did wonder how close Eridan was to blowing his secret just to get away from Trizza. God knows how he understood that feeling. "Kanaya, you're coming with. Might as well get your own talk with her out of the way."

"Do I have a choice?" Kanaya didn't seem to, the young girl having to quickly catch up as Aradia and Karkat moved to the trio in the hallway. "I guess this is normal then. Is this what people my age really like doing?"

It took them a few steps to get there, despite Kanaya taking a moment to catch up. Trizza hadn't noticed them at all, still talking some kind of insane nonsense Karkat could barely parse, though the other two rich kids did. Feferi looked positively relieved, while Eridan subtly motioned towards Trizza with open disbelief on his face.

Karkat just shrugged, deciding to interrupt Tethis before she _really_ got going. This wasn't even her final form.

"Hey, Tethis! I think you've tortured these two long enough, maybe you should give them a break." The halfa did his best to not to smirk at the instant change from braggart to utter disgust. At least he had an effect on people. "I'm surprised they haven't dropped dead yet from boredom."

"Oh god, what the hell do you want?" Tethis turned curtly to look at Vantas, promptly putting her own performance as a respectful human being aside. "If you're going to brag about your lunatic dad, save it. Just wait until someone decides to break open his portal and find out it's all a lightshow."

"Seriously? You're one of those people that believe that crap?" Aradia raised an eyebrow, wondering how the victim of a ghostly artifact could believe that. There had been some naysayers since Spades showed the Ghost Zone, but she was surprised to see a few in town. "You really can't admit when you're wrong about anything, can you?"

"I'm not wrong when it's pretty obvious that Spades finally cracked and decided he didn't want to be a laughingstock anymore." Trizza did have some merit to that theory, but Karkat couldn't give her credit since that comment only served to piss him off. "And when he give it up, I'm pretty sure they'll throw him in prison for it. So many people are claiming they've seen such off the wall shit…"

"And you aren't willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on that?"

Karkat blinked, along with Tethis. He gave a look to his left, seeing Kanaya's face screwed up into a frown. Guess she had some fire to her after all.

"I'm not exactly involved with more physical sciences, but if enough people are reporting the same thing with little variation, that seems to prove something is going on." Kanaya shrugged, frown not moving. "There is a difference between not believing something and purposely ignoring evidence."

Trizza narrowed her eyes, not appreciating this new person just deciding to up and dispute everything she was talking about. That usually resulted into arguments.

Karkat almost laughed as Kanaya unknowingly (or perhaps willingly) pissed of Tethis, making him take a step back and move around them as they started, moving towards Feferi and Eridan.

"Congratulations. I'd say you're hazing here is complete since you finally got on the bad side of Tethis." Karkat said in a hushed voice. It wasn't like he cared that anyone heard him, but he didn't want to cut the argument down in its infancy. "Of course, there rarely is a good side to her, so good job on surviving a few minutes."

"As much I don't want to agree, I'm really glad you stopped by. I'm not sure if she was trying to suck up to us or tick us off." Feferi side eyed the two girls, the distraction welcomed. "I think she's a little put off by our parents trying to buy out so many businesses here. Oberon's got some people really nervous too."

"Well, you won't have to worry about her for much longer." Aradia joined in, counting down on her fingers. "As long as Sollux is keeping pace, he should be done in about three, two, one…"

Trizza, who was in the middle of a rant directed at a thoroughly peeved Kanaya, suddenly went ramrod straight as she felt a shock go through her system. She grabbed her phone out of her pocket, which was starting to fizzle and spark a bit.

"Fucking hell, not again!" Trizza was already heading outside, most likely to make sure this one didn't explode on school property. She'd gotten in trouble last time Sollux decided to pull this stunt. "This isn't over!"

The group watched her leave with a faint amount of amusement, though the ones not used to this gave the boy who did it some wary glances.

"As much I don't like knowing you can make my phone explode, I think I'm actually relieved to see you." Eridan rolled his eyes as Sollux could only smirk. "Don't get used to it. And if you explode my phone, I will find out where you live."

"Careful there, ED. I might start interpreting some very interesting signals." Sollux didn't bother taking in the other boys flushed, if only slightly outraged face. He gave a raised eyebrow toward Kanaya, one that somehow gave off a sense of approval. "Good job on making Trizza angry at you within two minutes. At least you got your rite of passage out of the way."

"It wasn't my fault she was being inaccurate. Spreading false information can be as bad as creating it if she's doing it out spite." Kanaya muttered a few choice words under her breath, legitimately angry over this. "Especially since what happened to Spectra was something I did see with my own eyes. Along with the giant cat thing."

"A weird hill to die on, but not a bad one, I guess." Aradia didn't really seem to care what it was that started it. As long as it made someone they didn't like mad, she would accept it wholeheartedly. "Though you're on her list now. Maybe try and avoid getting your name out there too much. She isn't threatening, but she is annoying."

Karkat laughed a little at the mention of that. Truer words never said, at least in his opinion.

He couldn't help but feel the joy slip out of him as he felt his ghost sense act up. Making sure no smoke left his lips too fast, he sent a look towards Eridan to check if that wasn't just a fluke. Considering he was trying to prevent anyone else from seeing his eyes, he had a feeling that he did.

"Hey, Eridan, you said you needed something from one of the teachers here, right?" Karkat let the lie slip out, waiting for the other teen to respond. "Something about joining a club around here?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, that. Been trying to find something." Eridan was quick to catch on, waving nonchalantly as he desperately thought up of something. "Dads been hounding me on doing some extracurriculars and I've been putting it off. Know anywhere to go?"

"Yeah, just the place. Follow me." Karkat gave a look towards Sollux, who seemed to know what's up. "Kanaya mentioned she wanted to become and TA. Try and find Lancer, he'll have something for her."

"Got it, KK. Make sure to come back quick, though." Sollux immediately turned around, deciding to take charge of the group. "Alright, everybody, let's find Lancer before somebody else does. Can't keep dilly dallying."

"Did you just seriously say dilly dallying?"

"Shut up, AA."

Karkat was already moving away from the conversation, Eridan in tow. He could barely pick up the ecto-signature through instinct, but it was enough so that he could take the lead.

"So, not that I don't appreciate what happened back there, especially with that new girls help," Eridan started to question, raising an eyebrow. "But who was that? You don't seem like the welcome wagon type of person."

"Kanaya Maryam. Saw two ghosts last week with her family, one of them involving Spectra. She's kinda my aunt." Karkat spared a glance to see the quarter-ghosts face. He honestly looked even more confused than before. "It's a long story."

And he really wasn't sure if he wanted to say it. Right now, he just wanted to find this ghost of the week instead.

* * *

So far, the search had been pretty uneventful. Eridan hadn't been totally lying about finding a club, which did lead them to finding some flyers that he could use, along with helping with their lie. At least the fact that they hadn't found anything pointed to this ghost either being friendly or not powerful enough for an outright attack.

Unfortunately, that meant conversation had to fill the void of an empty search, something he didn't really want. And not because Eridan was hard to talk to.

"So, uh, Kar? There's something I've been meaning to ask for a while. Since the camping trip, I mean." The half ghost would've thought that Eridan was asking him out if it wasn't for the fact he looked awkward in a non-flustered way. "Something weird has been going on with my dad and I wonder if you'd know anything about it."

"Ask away." Karkat sincerely hoped he didn't ask anything, but it'd look suspicious if he told him no. Oberon and him had an agreement, one of which the older halfa barely seemed to hold on to. "I don't know how I can fix it, though. I usually punch my problems away."

_(_ _Being a superhero is just a coping mechanism._ _)_

Karkat smothered the chill and kept walking.

"He seems to be more irritable for some reason. I don't really know why, but he's been like that since the trip." Of course he was. Karkat had stopped his murder attempt. "I think it might have to do with what happened with that ghost wolf. You two did fight it off. Did something happen there?"

"Nothing much. The thing didn't go down easy, that was for sure. I think it must've surprised because of how vicious it was." And how he had been just as vicious. Karkat could've killed a man that night if he wasn't careful. "We were able to take it down, though. Nothing else can be said about it."

_(Your life has certainly become a long line of trauma's, hasn't it?)_

"Yeah, I guess. That wolf took everyone by surprise. Though, I don't think that's all. He sometimes talks about other stuff too." Eridan shrugged. It clearly bothered him, and he definitely wasn't sure what to do. "I remember hearing you guys talk before the fight, I think. Were you guys arguing about something before the wolf came?"

"…We were talking about my dad and his role in all of this. About what happened to us. Some things were said, but nothing too serious." Wounds weren't serious, apparently. Especially if they dug deep and still hurt sometimes. "Just a difference in opinion."

_(You're not even accepted by one of your own kind.)_

…They need to find that ghost. _Now._

He stopped cold at the entrance to the shop classroom, his ghost sense practically yelling at him. He would've stopped to wonder about it if he didn't badly want to get out of this conversation so much, causing him to open the door fairly quickly. It had the desired effect when he saw what was going on in there.

The good news that no human was inside. The sight of flying circular saws and various other electrical tools would've caused a panic. There was also a significant amount of discarded parts floating around, mashing themselves together into various devices, before either separating again or moving to some different location.

Karkat lit a hand up, along with a thermos, motioning for Eridan to do the same. Karkat was pretty glad that he had backup on him, especially since this power seemed strangely familiar.

A lot of the "finished" products that came from the various components working together were going to a common place, which meant they were heading there too. Karkat cautiously moved forward, following the pieces with trepidation. As he did, he could hear more intense work happening in the back, where more of the heavy machinery was.

The halfa turned a corner, a glowing hand raised as he looked at the glowing figure of…

"Horuss?" Karkat blinked, hand falling a bit as the glowing figure stopped to look at him. He stopped before correcting himself, frowning deeply. "Wait a minute, who the hell are you?"

The guy he assumed was Horuss only tilted his head at him before humming slightly. He went back to work on one of the buzz saws, barely paying any mind to him.

"So you've found me first. Interesting. I did hear you had a sense for us, but I wasn't entirely sure how reliable it would be." The ghost looked again, noticing a very confused Eridan. "And you brought the other one too? Even more interesting."

Karkat looked over the ghost again. He really did look like Horuss, but a second glance made him wonder how he thought that in the first place.

Despite having the same skin color and hair as the other ghost, there were a fair number of differences separating the two. While Horuss wore his hair slightly shorter, this ghost had their hair done simply, falling down his back. He didn't wear much in the way of headgear, only a pair of broken sunglasses that sat upon his nose haphazardly. A black tank top, a plain pair of work pants, black boots, and gloves were the epitome of his outfit, simple but effective.

"And before you ask again, my name is Equis. I understand your confusion when it comes between me and my brother, but I might as well correct you now." Equis, as he called himself, frowned as a spark occurred, singing his hand. "Fiddlesticks. This contraption is much too old to usable."

"Yeah, well, school are underfunded nationwide. Casper High is certainly not an exception." Karkat let the ecto-energy in his hand dissipate, becoming very confused. "Horuss mentioned you. Didn't say much, but I'm surprised you're out here."

"I wasn't even sure he had a brother." Eridan tried inserting himself into the conversation, clearly unsure of what to do. "Then again, I don't think I met him yet. Not sure how to talk to him, actually."

"Yes, my brother is quite reclusive. I was surprised to hear he was an acquaintance of yours. He can be solitary sometimes." Equis shrugged. He was awfully casual about all of this, especially for someone supposedly related to the awkward engineer. "Then again, apparently you did meet through my moirail, so I shouldn't be too surprised."

"Right, Nepeta. That was a surprising day for everyone." Karkat was starting to tire of the small talk. This was a weird day as is dealing with an adopted aunt and Tethis, so he just wanted to cut to the chase. "Look, it's not like it's not cool that you're here and all, but can you explain what you're doing out here? It's a little dangerous for a ghost without an accessory to walk around out here."

"Ah, right. I was actually looking for you. I was going to directly talk to you myself, but I couldn't help but notice… _this."_ The ghost gestured vaguely to everything, mostly the run-down equipment that made Casper High's shop class. "I may have decided to improve things a tad. And then went overboard."

"Not gonna lie there, but I think this is a definite improvement." Eridan cautiously poked one of the fixed-up machines. It did look a lot better than it usually did. "I have a take a class here and I'm pretty sure one of these are literally out to get me."

"Why are you looking for me exactly? Nepeta hasn't said too much about you, but I do know you aren't exactly the social type." The halfa couldn't help but have some alarm bells ring. Nepeta only mentioned her moirail in passing, but he wasn't lying about what she said. "Is there some kind of problem?"

"In a manner of speaking. I wouldn't normally care about it, especially since it technically is not my business, but since you're in contact with Horuss and Nepeta, I think they would." Equis, without warning, grabbed onto one of Karkat's hands. He pulled him close, whispering slightly. The halfa could see his eyes better now. "Especially considering who is involved with all of this."

Karkat ignored the part of him that screamed to immediately fire at Equis for touching him, noting the weird way the ghost's eyes moved. They motioned to where Eridan was standing. What was he implying here?

…_Dualscar._

"I've heard that something will happen here to this 'Amity Park' of yours, and I felt the need to give you fair warning." Equis pulled his hand away, motioning for the tools around him to quick their pace. It looked like he was finishing up whatever improvements he was giving the tools around here. "It would be foolish not to heed my advice. Do not make my trip here be in vain."

And with a _clang_ as the tools dropped into their places, Equis vanished from sight. It was obvious he just went invisible, but the theatrics did lend some shock value to it. Honestly, it was almost the exact opposite thing he would've expected a member of Horuss's family to do.

"Jeez, I'm starting think that guy was trying too hard. Even if it was kinda cool, I guess." Eridan rubbed the back of his neck, looking around at the place. "I guess he wasn't all bad, though. What was he trying to warn us about, though?"

"I don't know, but that guy sweats like racehorse. I'm pretty sure I'll need to deep clean my hand before this is all over." Karkat also made note that Equis definitely seemed stronger than he looked. His hand was sore, despite the contact being brief. "Could've gave me some warning too. A handshake like that could…"

The halfa couldn't finish his sentence as he noted something different. Equis had slipped him something during their strange little conversation.

It was a tiny, black, flash drive that looked delicate to the touch. Obviously, it had been taken care of intimately by the ghost, judged by the fact it had little damage on it. The fact that the ghost already seemed familiar with this technology, despite being stuck in the Ghost Zone, implied something.

"…Hey, Eridan?"

"Yeah?"

"I thinks it's about time I introduced you to a few more ghosts. We'll probably need their help for this one."

He was planning on visiting Horuss, anyway. He needed some upgrades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this is related to more foreshadowing than actual action, but it does set up some stuff I want to start hounding on. Hopefully this is satisfying enough for now.
> 
> If anyone feels like they have questions for me about this fic, the other one I do, or about future ones, feel free to look up my Tumblr. I'm free to answer your questions. I don't think I'll take requests, but sending me ideas you'd like to see in the future would be appreciated and make this move a lot easier for me emotionally.
> 
> Thank you, and I'll see you all next chapter!


	36. Research and Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next update everybody! Prepare for some more lore in this and the next chapter. Not to mention some very fascinating story bits.
> 
> I'm finally moved into the new place, but I've yet to get into the job. As said before, updates are still going to be weird, but still ongoing. Things should get back into a new routine by the end of next month at worst.
> 
> Without further ado, go ahead and enjoy the chapter!

The Ghost Zone was thankfully calmer today than it usually was, though Karkat did keep an eye out just in case. Having Eridan with him was a dangerous factor, especially since it was basically confirmed his dad was wanted here. He couldn't risk someone recognizing him and making assumptions, especially if it happened to be one of the Pyropes.

He still kept a death grip on his phone, checking it occasionally. He made sure that Sollux and Aradia kept a clear eye out on what was happening in Amity Park while he was doing this.

CG: ANYTHING HAPPENING OVER THERE? I'M GETTING CLOSE TO HORUSS'S WORKSHOP.

TA: nothiing yet. all the 2en2or2 are comiing up empty, even iin tavro2'2 area.

AA: i'm keeping an eye 0n the news, but i haven't heard anything. i'm still patr0lling the sch00l hallways t00.

TA: kk, are you 2ure we can tru2t thii2 equii2 guy? thii2 could be ju2t 2ome weiird prank he'2 tryiing two pull on a new gho2t or 2omethiing. and not exactly a good one.

CG: HE DIDN'T SEEM LIKE THE PRANKING TYPE WHEN I TALKED TO HIM. NOT TO MENTION NO IDIOT WOULD RISK BEING CAUGHT AND DISSECTED BY A GHOST HUNTER FOR A SIMPLE PRANK.

AA: i think y0u're f0rgetting ab0ut that gh0st c0uple that decided t0 vandalize a sch00l in br0ad daylight. clearly, being dead releases y0ur inhibiti0ns.

CG: WELL, EVEN IF THIS IS SOME STUPID PRANK, IT'S STILL WORTH CHECKING WITH HORUSS FIRST. HE'D KNOW HIS BROTHER BETTER THAN WE DO.

AA: p0int. but remember, just because we kn0w h0russ d0esn't mean we kn0w his br0ther. he c0uld've handed y0u a flashdrive full 0f s0llux level viruses f0r all we kn0w.

TA: ...you know, maybe iit ii2 a good thiing we don't te2t iit on one of my computer2 then. two rii2ky.

CG: NICE TO KNOW YOU CARE SO MUCH ABOUT OUR FRIENDS, CAPTOR. YOU IDIOTS HAVE FUN. I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE THIS SHIT ISN'T DANGEROUS.

Karkat sighed, putting the phone into his pocket. He regretted having to split so soon with Feferi and Kanaya, but they thankfully had some stuff to do with Mr. Lancer anyway. Feferi looked happy that Eridan was hanging out with, actually, and which would've been nice if it didn't remind him of his situation with Dualscar so much.

"So, what should I expect with this Horuss guy exactly? You haven't really said much about him or whatever." Eridan shrugged, most likely to fill the silence. The Ghost Zone could be unnervingly silent to anyone who wasn't used to it. "Hopefully a bit less mysterious than his brother. And less sweaty."

"I can't promise anything on the sweaty part, but he is nice. Pretty much the exact opposite to Equis, honestly." Karkat ran over the meeting in his head. The situation wasn't any less ominous than it was hours ago. "But I don't think you have to worry about him. I think the Leijons are going to be there, and they're pretty chaotic."

Karkat figured he should elaborate, but the questioning glance he got from Eridan was funny. That and he could see Horuss's home in the distance.

He never really considered where the ghost would live, but the sight of a two story building surrounded by meticulously organized junk was a fitting place. He could see various machines surrounding the place, all at work doing something or another. The building itself was plain, entirely nondescript except for it's deep purple coloring. It honestly did fit Horuss to a T.

"Alright, let me head up there first. Like I said, Horuss is nice, but I don't know how he'll react to someone intruding on his lair." Karkat floated up to the door, Eridan close behind. "And god can Nepeta be excitable sometimes. She might pounce on you for all I know."

He wasn't entirely sure if he was serious or not. He knocked quietly before the other boy could change his mind, waiting for a response.

They didn't have to wait long, as Horuss opened it up pretty much immediately. Despite being a little disheveled, he still seemed pretty cheery, already having his tools in hand.

"Vantas, it's been too long! I was wondering when you'd show up for today." Horuss grabbed Eridan's hand quickly, his handshake nearly causing the boy to be thrown about. "And it's excellent to finally meet you too, Mr. Ampora. I was surprised to hear you'd be joining us for today."

"I-It was a bit of a snap decision, honestly." Eridan tried to hide the fact he was cradling his hand after Horuss let go. "Just wanted to talk about a few things, if you're available."

"I have plenty of time! Feel free to come on in, Nepeta and Muelin are already here." He went inside, expecting them to follow. "I'd say to watch your step, but I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

The inside was surprisingly messy, with even more machines littered across the area. These ones weren't as complete as the ones outside were, each in their own stage of development. Karkat was kinda glad ghosts could float, seeing as it was almost a minefield.

Nepeta and Muelin seemed to be playing some form of game with one of Horuss's inventions, though he couldn't necessarily say what. It was keeping them highly amused, though, so maybe the halfa didn't need to know.

"And, I win this round! Better luck next time, Nepeta." Muelin rubbed the top of her fuming sisters head, a cocky smile on her face. "Maybe you need a little more practice."

"I'm pretty sure you just have house advantage." Nepeta stuck her tongue out at her sister, though it wasn't really serious. The accusation didn't even make sense anyway. "You're deep in cuddlepiles with the owner, so I wouldn't talk too much shit."

"Please stop talking about this, Nepeta. We've got guests." Horuss was instantly embarrassed, trying to get this conversation over with. "Muelin, could you get Karkat into the changing room. And Karkat, could you also leave your sickles in the room too? I have an idea for it you could probably use."

Muelin was already up and about, grabbing onto Karkat and pulling him where he needed to go. Karkat remembered being told that, yeah, he can actually change his clothes in his ghost form, which was a bit of a shock to him. He was glad he did, since that allowed him to actually repair the damn thing after his fights and get it washed. He was almost embarrassed he didn't figure out sooner.

Before Muelin moved him into the room, she did slow down, looking behind her real quick. She signed at him a quick message.

"_Is it safe to bring him here?"_

Karkat nodded, though he did his best to weakly sign back a quick yes. He was pretty glad he started to learn when her face lit up a little at that.

Karkat quickly went in, changing out of the hazmat suit and into some of the backup clothes Horuss provided. It felt weird being out of it while he was in his ghost form, but it was necessary for everything to work. He floated out, handing the clothes to Muelin before heading toward the others.

"Good, it looks like you're prepared. As long as Muelin puts the suit out correctly, one of my inventions should be able to implant some simple upgrades." Horuss moved onto a table, sitting on it as he fiddled with something. "Anything more specialized would take more time and would require a more personal touch."

"It is surprisingly weird to see you without the suit. I mean, it makes you look more like your human form, I guess." Eridan looked him over, a little put off. "Honestly, it almost feels like your naked to me."

"Funny, coming from the actual nudist in the room." Nepeta smiled cheekily, watching as Eridan's faced turned purple at the jab. "I know you don't actually have legs in your ghost form right now, but you aren't exactly wearing a shirt either."

Eridan sputtered, looking down at himself and trying to come up with an argument back. When he couldn't, he stared into the air for several seconds. "Oh god, am I nudist?"

"Let's leave that question unanswered for now. Horuss, Nepeta, I need to ask you a few questions." Karkat didn't know how to start, but he figured that getting into it now rather than later would work better. "What can you tell me about Equis?"

"My brother? What do you need to know about him?" Horuss actually stopped from messing around with the little gadget in his hand, attention abruptly on them. "I'm not even sure I ever mentioned him before. Is he in some form of trouble?"

"Actually, he was warning us _about_ trouble for some reason. Made a big show of it and everything." Eridan waved his hand, as if that explained everything. "Showed up at the school and started monologuing. Which was kind of cool, but pretty dramatic."

"Wait. He showed _at_ your school. In the human world?" Nepeta didn't seem to believe that, good mood entirely gone. Equis was technically her moirail, so this was probably very strange behavior for him. "That can't be right. I never really told him where the portal was, even after the Fright Knight thing."

Karkat raised an eyebrow. The warning had been one thing, but noticeable strange behavior belied a very serious problem. "Is he not fond of humans or something?"

"It's not that he's not fond of humans, it's just that," Muelin had arrived back while the conversation was underway. "…okay, I'm not going to lie to you here, but he's kind of a Darwinist. No offense, Horuss."

"None taken. That's the most apt description considering what my father has taught him." Horuss lifted his goggles up, rubbing at his eyes briefly. The goggles were back on before anybody could see them. "Equis isn't a bad person, per se, but he carries some very outdated values. Most of them taught by my good for nothing father, mind you."

The insult was unexpected enough for everyone to take pause. Muelin went over and kept close to her moirail, patting him on the back. It seemed to be appreciated, judging from his relaxed posture.

"You said he was warning you about something. He wouldn't do that normally, especially since he consider humans to be weak." Nepeta bit her nails, trying to think of any reason why that would happen. "What was he even talking about?"

"He didn't actually say. All he did was give Kar some kind of flash drive and then disappeared into the nothingness." Eridan scratched his chin, thinking it all through. "All he said that he was only warning us because he figured it would upset you two if he didn't. Nothing else."

"Which leads me to this." Karkat threw the flash drive at Horuss, which he used his technokinesis to grab. The older ghost looked at it thoughtfully. "Whatever is supposed to happen, it's because of something on here. If you have a computer you don't mind turning into a glorified paper weight, we should look through it."

"I'll get that clunky one we brought from the human world. It looks like it can take the hit for us if it needs too." Muelin was already moving into the back, muttering about where it was. "You think it might involved your dad, Horuss?"

"Most likely so. That means we definitely need to be prepared." Horuss got up as well, moving towards where a machine was working on Karkat's hazmat suit. "I'll see if I can make the upgrades quicker."

Karkat sighed, watching as Muelin hauled in a computer carefully. She was able to set it up fast, turning it on as she plugged in the flash drive. With trepidation, he moved towards it, thinking things through.

Just what was Dualscar planning here?

* * *

Aradia was slowly becoming really bored of patrolling the school hallways. Despite the fact it was necessary, the act was starting become grating since the dread of another ghost attack was starting to fade.

She'd mostly kept herself occupied by messaging Sollux, who was in a similar state as he kept an eye on the portal.

AA: please tell me y0u're at least getting s0me kind 0f visi0n 0r s0mething right n0w. even if it's a small 0ne.

TA: nothiing. have you got anythiing from your future 2elf yet?

AA: nada. i'm either keeping quiet ab0ut all 0f this 0r i'm having a t0ugh time sending messages right n0w.

She really has been trying to figure out how to do that consistently, but she hadn't had a lot of luck. The occasional one would go through, and those usually weren't super helpful or descriptive. It was a start, and certainly better than Sollux.

He was doing his best to learn lucid dreaming, which hadn't provided too many results thus far. But considering his powers seemed to deal with dreams, it was the only lead they had.

TA: ii'm 2tartiing two thiink we got 2cammed. the2e power2 haven't worked at all liike we wanted them two 2iince we got them.

AA: it's a learning experience. besides, we weren't even sure what we'd get, much less anything at all when we did that pledge.

TA: faiir enough, ii gue22. look, ii'm gonna check the 2canner2 agaiin. have fun wiith your extracurriicular actiiviitiie2.

AA: ha ha. y0u're taking the next shift just f0r that c0mment.

Aradia chuckled, getting out of Ghostian. She really didn't know why she had a crush on that lunatic, but here she was. She really had to start seeing how he felt when things officially calmed down enough for them to figure things out.

She looked down the hallways, frowning gently. No time to think about the future, need to keep focused on the present.

Aradia did see a door open, nearly making her take out an ectogun on reflex, but relaxed when she saw it was Mr. Lancer, Feferi, and Kanaya. Her phone buzzed, causing her to take it out again.

FAA: Follow them.

…Okay, that was a bit rude future Aradia. Not like she wasn't going to do it anyway. She was already moving closer when she heard Lancer talking to the two of them.

"Are you sure you want to take up a teaching assistant position so soon after moving here, Ms. Maryam?" Mr. Lancer didn't seem to actually mind, considering they did need some aides at Casper High. But he did feel the need to ask. "I did hear that you didn't exactly have the warmest welcome when you arrived."

"It's quite alright. I'm really just looking forward to doing something while my family is in town, especially with everything happening here." Kanaya brushed off the concern fairly easily. Aradia sensed she had practice. "Ghost attacks or not, I'd rather keep myself busy."

"Still, you got to see two ghosts in one day. I'd almost call you lucky if it wasn't for the whole Spectra thing." Feferi waved at Aradia as she caught up to them. "Hey Aradia! Is everyone else nearby?"

"Nah, the guys are all busy with something right now. I don't know when they'll get off, but if they're done soon, I think we can take a stop at the Nasty Burger after this." Aradia squinted at the two new girls weirded out expressions. "Have I never mentioned that place before? We definitely need to go there."

"As happy as I am that you've rolled out the welcome wagon Ms. Megido, I really hope you aren't traumatizing the new students already." Mr. Lancer meant it good naturedly. At least, he mostly did. "Things have been mostly quiet around here, though. Almost peaceful."

"You wound me, Mr. Lancer. You really do." Aradia was ninety percent sure he just jinxed them. "By the way, have you seen anybody hanging around here? I'm pretty sure I heard some new guy is on campus looking for the front office."

"Another one? I haven't heard about anymore students." Lancer frowned, looking through his clipboard. "As much I understand the news coverage Amity Park has been getting, I really don't understand why we're taking on so many new students."

The lights immediately flickered at that, almost as if to prove his point. A loud ringing soon followed, coming from farther down the hallway, electronic in nature.

"That sounds like it's coming from the computer lab." Feferi covered her ears, cringing at the sound. "Is that supposed to be an alarm?"

"No." Mr. Lancer groaned, already heading over there. "Probably Mrs. Lark trying to get onto her email again. The woman is half my age yet doesn't know how handle a computer. It's a wonder she hasn't added viruses onto the entire school's server."

Aradia had a feeling that wasn't the case. Her future self did want her to follow them, and this didn't seem like coincidence. She followed behind as they moved to the lab, wondering how she'd explain an ectogun to Mr. Lancer. It probably wouldn't fly.

"Is everything alright, Aradia? You look like you've seen- no, not finishing that sentence." Kanaya mumbled the last part, nearly kicking herself for jinxing them. Like they weren't already. "You look upset. Is there anything wrong."

"Not really. Just have a feeling about something." Aradia joked. She debated bowing out now and calling Karkat so he could deal with this quickly. "You know when you have a feeling something is about to go terribly wrong?"

"Great Expectations!"

The girls watched as Mr. Lancer, who had opened up the computer lab door suddenly leap backwards. Aradia was able to look inside, seeing several computers glitching out and literally rising up.

"Like that." Aradia couldn't help but wonder what would make this worse.

That was when Karkat, in full Phantom form, burst through the window to the computer lab.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Horuss to find out what was on that flash drive, and more importantly, what the program on it could do. It took longer for him suit back up and get back to the human world, a fact that grated on him when he was flying over.

It turns out Equis had given him a virus that was meant to turn every electronic appliance with a WIFI signal to slowly come to life and try to hurt the nearest living thing close to it. It would be able to send emails out to other devices and eventually try to spread it further and further from the first computer.

Figure that out had been a scare and a half, but considering the computer it was tested on was surrounded by ghosts, a halfa, and Eridan, it hadn't taken much to defeat it. Which was probably why Equis told him to go to his brother.

Karkat hadn't remembered much about the conversation after, but he decided that Eridan and Horuss would be the only ones to join him. The first was so someone could trip an alarm to evacuate whoever was in the school, while the latter was to help contain it.

While they were on the way here, Horuss had given him a very ominous warning.

"_If my father is here as well, then you won't be able to find him. My family's aspect is Void, and that makes us surprisingly difficult to track."_ While they'd been invisible while flying over here, but he knew Horuss must've had a scowl on his face. _"Like my brother, he won't be found unless he lets you find him."_

Karkat would look for Horuss's dad after this anyway, but right now he needed to focus on the more immediate threat of several computers moving on wires. Right towards some humans that didn't seem to know what they were looking at.

"Hey!" Karkat kicked one of the computers into the ground before it could properly rise up, smashing it to pieces. He didn't think it would be a good idea to risk throwing ectoblasts while there were other people in the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm pretty sure the only reason computers should kill anyone is if someone sits at one for more than twenty-four hours. Other than that, I'd say it isn't fair game."

"You again?!"

Karkat blinked, looking over at the human's present, the distraction giving him time to actually recognize them. He wasn't surprised to see Aradia, but Feferi, Mr. Lancer, and Kanaya were certainly a shock.

"The hell- okay, this is the third time something supernatural has happened around you. Are you cursed or something?" Karkat knew it was just coincidence, but seriously, what the hell? "And I thought I attracted trouble."

"Excuse me, but what in the world is going on here? Is this a senior prank?" Lancer looked at the living computers, and then to the glowing team. He repeated this action several times, enough for Karkat to wonder if he was about to have a heart attack. "I will hand out detentions for this unless you tell me what's happening here."

"You seriously must not have seen a ghost before." Karkat ducked as one of the computers got brave, swiping at his head with crackling wires. He could hear the fire alarm start ringing out. "And I'm thinking that's your cue to go. Mind escorting him out, ladies?"

"Don't mind if I do!" Aradia grabbed Mr. Lancer, along with Feferi, who had remained silent as she watched the insane exchange. "Make sure we don't have any computer overlords, please? I've always hated those types of apocalyptic scenarios."

"Wait, who is that?" Feferi sadly wasn't going to get any answers as Aradia was already dragging them out the door, followed by a bewildered Kanaya. She saw Karkat get attacked by two computers, causing him to fly towards the ceiling. "What is going on here?"

Karkat sighed, noting that the computers that started rising were growing at an alarming rate. He could already tell this was going to be a very exhausting fight considering there was about twenty of these things, with seven of them already up and ready to kill.

Without any further ado, he fired an ectoblast at two computers in front of him, destroying one and only grazing the other. A slash came from his right, which he dodged before firing at it, destroying it too.

Another computer rose up while he was dodging one from his left, slashing at his back hard. Karkat felt the force of it, but the suit took the brunt of the damage. He could already feel the damaged body armor heal up, forming back to its original form.

Horuss hadn't made any spectacular modifications to the suit, but there were two main additions to it. Not only did it provide a hell of a lot more armor that didn't impact his flying speed, but it was able to regenerate it if damaged. While it depended on the level of damage, the regeneration could be slow, meaning that he couldn't stand more than two big hits before getting hurt.

Karkat made sure to use it to its fullest extent, flying under and grabbing the wires as the same computer attacked. He launched it towards another one, upping his count to three destroyed computers, two of which had already been replaced.

The halfa immediately changed plans, deciding fly out of the classroom and firing ectoblasts at anything that followed. He knew he'd eventually beat them, but considering the respawn rate, it was going to take a bit.

"Horuss, have you made any progress on quarantining the virus? We can't have this spread anywhere outside the school." He spoke into the headset Horuss had added. He destroyed another computer with a careful, another of its brothers taking its place. "If it spread to the other teachers computers, that's fine, but if this gets out…"

"_Trust me, I understand the implications of that more than you'd know."_ Horuss spoke quickly, obviously hard at work. _"My father must've put a good amount of ecto-energy into this. It's going to take a few minutes. Can you manage that?"_

"Of course I can. I've dealt with worse than a few outdated- shit!" Karkat dodged an arc of electricity, one of the computers seemingly getting wiser. "Great, they're evolving. Just what we needed from a robot uprising."

Karkat didn't dodge the second arc, coming from a different computer. It hit him in the chest hard, sending him back into a tree a few feet back. The smell of burning body armor was unpleasant and the ache in his back would hurt, but he was otherwise unharmed.

Getting up and deciding to keep moving, he pulled out his sickles, activating the new addition to them. Again, it wasn't exactly a spectacular update. Horuss had given him some chains made of ecto-energy to connect to the bottom of them, allowing them to be thrown or swung around at a larger range.

Karkat experimentally threw one toward a computer, hitting it squarely in its screen. It went through it and he swung it rightwards, destroying another and cutting the wires off another. He wrapped the other one around another enemy, firing it up with ecto-energy to turn it to ashes.

With eight of them down, Karkat flew forwards and pulled his sickles back. Nearing the window, he threw an ectoblast at the crippled computer, counting out that five more had risen up in their fallen brethren's place. All of them started firing electricity at once, making the halfa slip through the floor.

He quickly flew back up, grabbing and smashing two computers against the ceiling. A third one grabbed his leg with its wires, unceremoniously slamming into the floor with a grunt. Karkat simply fired and hit one of them charging up an electrical attack before tugging the wires on his leg and sending a slicing it in half with a sickle.

Before the halfa could send a final shot toward the fifth computer, it immediately started to fizzle out and die. Stopping the blast halfway, he watched as it twitched and eventually collapsed onto the floor.

"_Phantom, are you there? I was able to finally quarantine the virus before it could spread further." _Horuss's voice came in staticky, but the relief was palpable besides that. _"I'm surprised it went as well as it did."_

"That makes two of us. These things weren't that hard to beath, honestly." Karkat kicked at the remains of one of the destroyed computers, wincing. He was surprised there were even any computers left in the lab, much less the entire school. "I'm starting to think that was a little too easy, actually."

"You would assume correct, Phantom."

Karkat swung around, ectoblast at the ready at the sound of a new voice, smoke billowing out of his mouth. He could hear Horuss start to ask something before the line went dead, sending a large amount of anxiety into his gullet.

It didn't take long to find the perpetrator, and the halfa wasn't surprised that they had a familiar, but different face. Wearing a dark body suit with purple accents that would've come right out of Tron stood a ghostly man looking at him coldly. His eyes were obscured by a helmet and familiar set of goggles, but a tilt of the head made sure that Karkat knew he was being looked over like he was a specimen under a microscope.

Or, if he was anything like his other family members, like he was a piece of machinery he didn't know how to operate on.

"You know, I really got to stop finding friends of mines relatives like this. This isn't exactly a great way to make a first impression." Karkat sarcastically remarked, weapons still out. "I'm going to take a wild guess here and assume you're Mr. Zahhak?"

The older man was silent for a few moments, humming softly to himself. He looked down to the half-finished computer, kicking at it softly with some disdain. Karkat almost felt insulted that he was making him wait.

"That's one thing people within the Infinite Realms call me. I have plenty of other names, to go by, but I rarely get called 'Mr. Zahhak' anymore." The ghost shifted, floating around the halfa slowly. Karkat made sure that he was always in front of him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you know one of my sons. It is within a Blood Aspects nature to find allies wherever they can. Tell me, is it Horuss or Equis that you know? Then again, it could be both."

"I don't think I'm going to explain that, considering who you happen to be working for. I'd rather not let him know who to find." Dualscar didn't need to know shit, especially if he planned on more than one attack. "Assuming you're smart enough to realize how much of a bad idea to let him know about them, that is."

"Believe it or not, subtlety is best when dealing with those that are stronger than you. When pure strength doesn't cut it, intelligence is usually the next best thing." Mr. Zahhak shrugged, a purely casual gesture in what was a tense situation. Karkat realized he wasn't being taken serious here. "I'm assuming you have questions, child. I'd ask that you make them quick. I have a job to complete, whether or not you allow me to do so."

Karkat mulled things over before deciding on his first one. "What do you call yourself, Mr. Zahhak?"

The older ghost paused, as if he hadn't expected it. He recovered quite easily despite that.

"I usually go by Darkleer. At least, that's what my employers call me when they need a job done." The ghost tilted his head, as if to inspect him further. "And I'd suggest that you refer to me as such, child."

Karkat was going to enjoy knocking this idiot down a few pegs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm going down a certain road for Darkleer here and hopefully you all enjoy it. He's going to come off as a pretty annoying Darwinist philosopher, but I think you were expecting that in some shape or form.
> 
> Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter!


	37. Social Experiments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright everyone, here's the next chapter. Things are picking up again, so the schedule isn't going to get disturbed anymore than it probably has, you can be sure of that.
> 
> I hope you enjoy what I have ready here. More story developing, some lore, and even possible foreshadowing if you squint. Either way, if you're satisfied with just the fight scenes, that's cool too.
> 
> Either way, enjoy the chapter!

Karkat wasn't going to pretend that this was going to be an easy fight. At least, if it led to that. Darkleer wasn't exactly making his intentions known right now.

The halfa watched the adult ghost carefully as he gave an impassive glare to all of the machines that failed to kill him. By all accounts, Dualscar was probably at the same age as this guy, meaning they could be at similar power levels. On the other hand, if Darkleer considered Dualscar his superior in power (falling in line what Horuss mentioned about him), then maybe he isn't as dangerous as he thinks.

Karkat took in a deep breath. He'd have to hope that Horuss finds him before anything actually started.

"So, mind explaining just what the fuck you're doing? If you're anything like Horuss, then I'd think random acts of destruction are pretty out of character for you." Karkat paused, thinking for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Then again, it doesn't seem like you two get along well, so maybe you're into that sort of thing after all."

"I wouldn't say that me and my son don't get along. We just have different sets of ideals, which I can respect." Darkleer legitimately didn't seem saddened by this, which was somehow worse than him just plain being angry. It certainly spoke a lot about the Zahhak's home life. "What he does is his own business. Though you are somewhat correct about this not exactly being random."

"Yeah, because shit can't be simple, can it?" Karkat adjusted himself midair, reclining into a relaxed position. He lazily floated around the man. "It has to be for some kind of grandiose bull crap that doesn't make sense until the last second. Except those plans were just half-baked and make little to no goddamn sense."

Darkleer raised an eyebrow, as amused as he's been from the start. "You do realize cursing doesn't make you sound more intimidating, correct?"

"Go fuck yourself." Karkat straightened out, tilting his head. The halfa was making it his goal to be a little shit. "What _is_ this about then? Not a lot of people are willing to give me a good monologue. It's all just fighting for them."

"It is quite brutish, I suppose." Oh thank god, he was going for it. Horuss's rambling and Equis's grandiose actions started making sense as Darkleer seemed to prepare himself. "You remember that biker couple that you had to take down after they were predictably acting like hooligans?"

"Johnny and Kitty. Kinda hard to forget them when they throw an entire ass cinderblock through a school window." Yeah, Karkat was still bitter about that. And yes, he was going to continue cursing to tick the older ghost off. "Shadow was their smartest member by far."

"Agreed. I would congratulate you for trying to teach them a lesson, though it did catch the attention of one of my employers." Darkleer wasn't angry, but he did sound a little frustrated. "He wasn't exactly happy to know two of his dealers were sent back to the Infinite Realms."

"The human with big hair. Not gonna lie, I almost forgot about that asshole." It wasn't a lie. He was still curious about that mess, but it was put on the backburner thanks to the other crazy shit. "Which is weird, since I'm ninety percent sure you hate humans."

"I consider it more indifference than hate. For the most part, humans are not exactly on my radar. Ants if you will." Darkleer said it like it was a fact, though his face twisted. As if someone had shoved something disgusting into his mouth. "Though, weak as they are, some are clever. You'd be surprised to know that there are a lot more ghost powered artifacts out there. Some of them not made by us."

Ominous. Though not surprising. Unless the human in question had some affinity in ecto-science, they'd need something else to make things even. While he didn't think they were related, the memory of the human who released Fright Knight crossed his mind. If he was able to get something like the orb, then stuff like that existed all over the world. Probably even effected history.

"That would explain some local legends." Karkat felt a spark of interest, something to research and question the other ghosts on. But that would be for later. "So you invented the accessories. I'm going to guess they only work because of your Aspect."

"An astute observation." Darkleer nodded, rubbing his chin. He seemed surprised, though for what reason, Karkat could only guess. "Being able to mess with the Void Aspect does give a mastery to certain things. Primarily, in hiding certain things that shouldn't come to light."

It was a simple admittance, but since Karkat knew an important factor in their production, it made replicating them easier. The halfa nearly smiled at that, one part of a mystery being solved so easily.

…Darkleer was using this information to distract him.

"What are you really here for?" Karkat's tone turned hostile then, the fact the ghost believed that he was stupid enough to fall for the trick pissing him off. "If that was the only reason, you would've come for me a while ago. Johnny and Kitty aren't worth that for you. Your boss has way more dealers than that."

Darkleer paused again. Realizing he had been caught so easily, he briefly scowled before bringing himself down to an eerie calm. Karkat knew he was being analyzed again; his threat level being evaluated.

"I suppose you aren't as foolish as Dualscar seems to believe. I'm not sure if that's a welcome surprise or not." Confirming his real employer, he didn't seem to need the theatrics anymore. The façade slowly peeling away, so to speak. "You're right. Dealers are easy to come by, especially if people are desperate."

Karkat narrowed his eyes, body tensing. This was about to be a lot less peaceful in a few seconds.

"The other member of your species called me up not long after the deal you made with him. He recognized it for what it was and found several possible loopholes." Darkleer raised three fingers on one hand. "One of them is for you, the Blood Aspect, to break the vow yourself. Can you guess the other two?"

"…I would have to die for him to finish what he started," Karkat eyes widened, hands alighting in ecto-energy. "Or another ghost would have to kill my dad in an attack that Dualscar doesn't do himself."

Three people not used to ghost saw the computers rise up and him crash through a window. All three of them who knew one person in town who studied the supernatural exclusively, _especially_ on the topic of the undead.

Spades was probably already on his way.

"He never specified that he wanted me to kill your father. That would cause your contract to penalize him severely." Darkleer waved a hand. All the computers, broken or not, started to float. Karkat was sure that wasn't the only stuff coming. "However, if I make a big enough spectacle and he attacks me, then it can be considered self-defense. Or I can kill you before he even appears."

Darkleer made a fist as the technology in the room stopped. "And I'm _very_ interested to see which one of those possibilities happens first."

The computers flew to him all at once.

* * *

Kanaya wasn't sure if the arrival of Spades Slick on school premises was a good or bad thing. He was the most equipped to fighting off whatever was happening in the school and made sure he came with enough weapons so everyone could protect themselves.

However, that didn't take into account that Mr. Lancer didn't want him even near the school.

"Lewis, just let me inside the goddamn school. You have no idea what's in there, but considering I'm the expert here, I think I do." Spades was calm enough to not yell, but considering how he was gritting his teeth, that would most likely change. The knives in his hands were not helping his credibility in the slightest. "I don't care if it's computers, haunted lunch meat, or all that crap. Just let me through so I can sort this shit out."

"Mr. Slick, I can't in good conscience do that when you're carrying _deadly weapons._ We don't even know if what's going inside is actively supernatural." Lancer would've let the man in if it wasn't for what happened last time he went on a 'ghost hunt.' The trauma the previous vice principal had to go through made it impossible for him to work in Casper High ever again. "Strange phenomena happens all the time, but it isn't ghosts."

"Then what the fuck did you just call whatever flew into the window?!" Spades groaned loudly. Kanaya actually feared that this would end up with him storming the entire school. "Jesus Christ, why does no one listen to me?"

"I'm not sure if this is funny or kind of sad." Feferi watched the adults argue with some irritation, something Kanaya couldn't blame her for. "He's most likely right and has all the sources he needs, but everyone is just ignoring him."

"People don't like knowing things that challenge their worldview too much or inconvenience them with something uncomfortable. Considering some global crises, that shouldn't be too surprising." Kanaya paused, figuring that was a little too grim. "Or Mr. Lancer is in shock. That's the more likely explanation."

"Fair. That's the second time I've seen a ghost and I'm still not sure how to feel about it sometimes." Feferi quirked an eyebrow, giving the other girl an inquisitive look. "How many times is it for you? And how do you know Karkat again?"

"In order? This is the third time, and I'm technically his aunt." Kanaya would love to relish the surprised look she got from that response, but she could see a tuft of purple moving in the distance. "You might want to check on your friend over there. He appears to be out of breath."

Feferi blinked, really wanting to figure out what she meant, but deigning to turn around. She saw Eridan jog the rest of the way over, looking exhausted.

"Wha-What's going on?" Eridan said when he started to catch his breath. He raised a finger, a hand on his knees as he tried to settle down. "G-Give me a minute here. Dear god, I should get in better shape."

"The AI uprising is happening, and a ghost showed up to stop it. Which is not something I thought I'd see today." Feferi was preaching to the choir there, but she wasn't finished. She actually looked puzzled. "Why did you run here? I didn't tell anyone anything was happening yet."

"Did Karkat send you? I don't exactly see him here with his father, which would certainly be a big help right now." Kanaya wasn't sure how well Karkat was at keeping his father's temper under control, but it would certainly be a useful skill. "It seems strange he wouldn't jump at the opportunity to make sure we're ok."

"O-oh, right. Kar's at the lab right now. Some weird stuff is happening with some of his dad's experiments and he's trying to keep it contained." Eridan rubbed the back of his neck, adjusting his glasses enough so they couldn't actually see his eyes. "Can't have more than one problem going on. Only reason I didn't stay is because Sol decided to help too."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'd really rather not have to see more than one ghost today if I can avoid it." Feferi hummed before shaking her head. "Well, more than one ghost _attack._ Maybe if they were a friendly ghost…"

The two continued talking, but something really irked Kanaya about that explanation. She admittedly didn't know Spades that long, but she felt like he would be pretty protective over his inventions, and even more about his son. And Karkat, despite probably knowing more about his father's inventions than anybody, wouldn't risk messing with a device that he couldn't repair.

She was about to voice those opinions out loud before something in the trees caught her eyes. Something was actively moving very quickly in there, and it was glowing brighter than most things should.

Kanaya spared a glance to the rich kids before making her way to the tree line. No one noticed as she attempted to follow the glowing figure deftly and quickly.

After a few moments, whatever it was finally slowed down until it eventually stopped. Kanaya was thankful for that because she was almost sure she'd lose it if it had kept trying to move.

She soon had to stop calling it 'it' though after she could hear _him_ speak.

"Why did he have to cut the line? Does he really think I won't figure out what he's doing or that he's here already?" The figure mumbled, searching for something on his phone. He seemed frustrated. "Just because I can't find Phantom's signal doesn't mean I can't find the dead zone. Talks so much about how to be smarter than everyone else and he forgets I can use the same Aspect. The nerve!"

Kanaya had no idea what the ghost was talking about, but she had a feeling it was probably related. Was this Phantom person that ghost looking for the ghost that flew into the computer lab? Or was he talking about whoever was _attacking _it?

If it weren't for the fact that she wasn't armed, she'd be tempted to ask what he meant.

That and she heard an explosion go off somewhere near the school.

The ghost tensed, turning, and speeding off towards it.

"Oh no, they've already met." She heard him mutter as he moved. "I can't let them hurt each other. Not like this."

Despite her better judgement, Kanaya decided to follow behind.

* * *

Karkat dodged another laser, doing his best to take stock into this situation he found himself in.

The good news was this was eerily similar to how things went when he had to fight Horuss down from going completely obsession-crazy. Darkleer maybe the Zahhak figurehead, but that meant he knew exactly what to expect power wise and how to combat it.

The problem was that Darkleer was obviously more powerful, more experienced, and had the advantage since Karkat was alone this time.

Darkleer had made a mech suit much like Horuss did, but way more advanced and made up of modern technology. It covered his full body, growing bigger with every moment as more tech was gathered from local sources, building it up more. Weapons kept improving every moment, along with more being added every second.

Karkat was slowly starting to realize that even while Horuss had been deep into his obsession, he was still holding back. And now he was being shown how truly terrifying it could get.

"I'm going to take a guess and assume you made Skulker's stuff too before I got him to Redglare. Something about this is very familiar." Karkat tapped his hand to his chin, deftly avoiding an arc of lightning. "I'm not sure if it's the design, the type of weapons, or the obvious need to compensate for something."

"I think we both know the answer to that question, Phantom." Darkleer's tone was conversational, obviously not rising to the bait. "I will have to say, thank you for getting rid of him. His requests usually bordered on the absurd."

Karkat received that thank you in the form of a large mechanical hand attempted to punch him into the ground. The halfa returned it with a swing of sickle, the chain flowing through it as it cut the thing off Darkleer's body.

It took only a moment for it to rise back up and reattach itself. While the broken parts that had been a part of it were left to rot, anything that remained whole made sure to fill the space. That presented an obvious problem.

Karkat figured he could keep chipping away at the guys evolving mech, but the amount of actual damage he was doing was negligible and could end up being repaired anyway. As he dodged more arcs of electricity, he also knew that even if Darkleer didn't have to keep repairing either. All he had to do was keep making more weapons until the halfa was killed or forced to run.

He had to make Darkleer do something stupid and expose himself.

"You know, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. How exactly is your relationship with your kids?" Karkat nearly laughed as the man paused, though he did receive a shock for his troubles. He soldiered on, reminding himself to buy Horuss something for making it able to absorb some of the electricity. "Not good? Figures. I know you said Horuss goes by his drum, but I highly doubt it's just that."

"My personal relationships are none of your business. Maybe focus on your own problems." A fleet of buzzsaws came at Karkat. Guess that hit a nerve. "Considering I'm trying to kill you. You shouldn't be acting so blasé."

"I'm just curious! Horuss is such a nice guy and all, and he seems to hate your ass more than anything." Karkat activated his red string vision. He could see a thread coming from the center of the mech leading to somewhere in the forest, showing at least one of his sons was coming by. "And your other kid. Equis I think? I'm wondering if that'll end up being a repeat too."

"Like I said, Horuss has his own ideals." Darkleer formed a shield, blocking several ecto-blasts from Karkat. This let the halfa slice at one of his hands again, this time only getting a few fingers. "Equis is much more agreeable to mine. You assume too much."

"No, I think I'm making good point here. If anything, I'm actually helping you out by making sure you don't make the same mistake twice." Karkat kept slashing, chains and sickles flying every which way. They kept getting blocked, but that was the point. He needed him to focus on it. "It seems like you Void types have a hard time making friends without being valuable to them somehow. So I'd protect all the relationships you can get."

_That_ must've hit a nerve as Darkleer sent a wave of circular saws at him, arcing towards him with wires out. Which, honestly, was exactly how he planned it.

Karkat darted forward, sending a chained sickle in a wide arc above him to cut the wires off the saws. At the same time, he moved the other chained sickle to twist around the main body of the mech, jerking his arm back to pull it towards him. Pulling back the first sickle into his hand, he charged it up.

At the last possible second before impact, he thrust his hand forward, the sickle causing a blast that opened the chest of the mech wide open. Karkat kept his fist charged and flipped the sickle to the but end of it as he repeated the action, hitting Darkleer in the chest hard.

Going at it a third time was a mistake as the older ghost grabbed his arm this time, sending a kick to the halfa's stomach. The blow was a lot stronger than Karkat thought, launching him backwards into a tree.

Karkat was glad he couldn't breathe, because he probably wouldn't have been able to from the impact. He reflexively took a breath, irritating some obviously broken ribs and a bruise spine.

"Holy shit," The halfa muttered before sending a glare to a slowly approaching Darkleer. "Have you been holding back this whole time?"

"Yes and no. It would've been much easier to kill you with my bare hands, but I didn't believe I needed to go that far. My powers should've been more than enough." Darkleer sneered, wiping his hands off on his suit. "I was hoping your father would appear so I could simply kill him instead, but you're a much bigger threat than I thought."

"I do my best to impress." Karkat coughed as he shakily got onto his feet. He quickly swigged some ectoplasm, though he figured it wouldn't matter unless Darkleer was distracted enough for a few seconds. "I'm guessing this is the part where you gloat and talk about how the strong are better than the weak?"

"I would, but you are too clever for your own good. I do appreciate the interesting fight, but this is where I cut it short." Darkleer had the mech raise one hand, several lasers lighting up as he frowned. "Goodbye, Phantom."

The lasers were about to fire as Karkat attempted to move to the side, but the sound of the machines in it whirring or stopping caught both ghostly beings' attention. The mech started to glitch as if something was fighting against it.

This was followed by an electric shock hitting Darkleer in his side.

The older ghost whirled around at his attacker, ready to send an electric blast back before seeing it was an enraged Horuss. Darkleer paused at that, not daring to fire at his own son, who didn't seem to share the sentiment.

Horuss fired several blasts again, causing Darkleer to dodge to his left. Karkat took this as an opportunity to hit the man in the head with the blunt end of his sickle. Before the ghost could recover, Horuss punched him in the stomach, knocking him backward.

Darkleer could look at them, dazed, as Karkat pulled out the thermos and sucked the older ghost inside.

There was a few moments of silence as they both collected themselves, and in Karkat's case, not injure themselves further.

"Thanks. You really just saved my ass back there." Karkat laughed, coming out as bitter. He really needed to get better at this, so he didn't have to rely on people so much. "I'm surprised that I didn't get killed right there."

"I'm surprised that he was trying to kill you at all. Usually he isn't this ruthless." Horuss sighed, disappointment clear in his features. "I guess he's changed a good deal since I left home. And not for the better."

Karkat winced, a mix between pain and awkwardness. A thought surfaced that maybe the separation wasn't a clean deal for either of them, but that wasn't an issue he could touch on. He wasn't an expert, much less anyone in any position to say anything about it.

"This was a lot more taxing than I thought it would be. I'm very sorry. At the very least, it appears Equis has some sense of morality separate to our father's." Horuss didn't bring up the fact that his brother did it prevent upsetting him. It hadn't fully worked, honestly. "I'll head on out Mr. Vantas. You deal with my father however you please. I'm sure Redglare will want a talk with him."

"I'll make sure to do that. You get home safe." Karkat figured that he was almost healed up enough to get away on his own anyway. He turned to Horuss, seeing that he was already gone. "Now to make sure nobody sees me…"

"Hey!"

Karkat shot up into the air, turning to interrupting voice with some sense of alarm. He couldn't help but blink when he saw his dad raising an ecto-gun at him. Spades actually blinked right back.

"Freeze or I'll… shoot, I guess?" Apparently Spades was just as surprised to see him as Karkat was. Probably didn't think he'd actually get see a human ghost today. What a goddamn treat for him. "Are you that ghost that flew in through the window? Hold up a second, is that my thermos?!"

"Yeah. Thanks again, it's been a big help." Karkat was not as confident as he sounded, rising higher into the air. He put the thermos on his belt, making sure to stay on the side with his dad's bad eye. "All the hot soup I can have in the world right at my fingertips. The ghost catching option is certainly a bonus too."

"Wait, I said don't move! I want to know what the hell just happened here." Spades corrected his aim, looking confused more than anything. This was his first time actually talking to anything remotely ghostly, as far as he knew. "Did you do this attack? Or did you fight the ghost responsible? Why the hell would you do that?"

"Buddy, I'm not exactly in the mood to answer any of your questions." Calling his dad buddy was weird. Karkat didn't want to do it anymore. "The threat has been taken care of and everyone is safe. That's all I care about, so I think it's about time for me to go."

Karkat turned, speeding off as Spades let out a bunch of curses. He did disappear too, but he made sure to wait a few seconds in order to test something out.

Karkat would come to think about that moment fairly often as time went on. It didn't seem like something big to him, especially in light of other things that happened to him recently, but it started a few things that he would admit changed Amity Park, and even the Ghost Zone as a whole.

As for today, the only things he thought about was how relieved he was his dad didn't fire at him without asking questions first. He'd think about how Horuss and Equis, and how a parent like theirs was so simple, yet complicated.

But since he couldn't see Kanaya, who had found her way to the battlefield nearby and heard much more than she should've, he didn't think of her at all.

Ironically, that would be one of the most important things to happen to him during this week.

* * *

Equis had stayed long enough to watch the fight but didn't necessarily see the aftermath. It wasn't like it was going to go in any other way.

As Equis floated home, making sure he was undetected in all manners, he thought about today. Just like the halfa, there were some things to consider.

Despite respecting his father, he knew the fight wouldn't end any other way. Phantom may be unruly and brash, but he was intelligent and knew where to find allies that would work best against his father's power set. He was sociable, even to those weaker than him and made sure their skills were put to good use. He honestly even possessed a luck much like a Light Aspect, even if he clearly had relations to Blood.

However, despite knowing the outcome of the fight, he couldn't but feel… disappointed.

Equis knew that his father wasn't correct all of the time, especially in moments like this. But seeing that loss did seem to shatter an illusion that he wasn't aware he had. His father was strong, smart, and skilled, but lost to someone who was maybe a little too clever and simply knew how to network.

Strength was equated to standing on your own without support, but Phantom had shown that his own version was superior in some ways. He didn't know how to feel about it.

It could also be that he felt guilty about tipping the enemy off, but his intentions were pure. He wanted to make sure Nepeta and Horuss continued to be happy.

He supposed that made him weak in some capacity. Or strong. Again, he wasn't sure.

"This is all more fascination than it should be." Equis shook his head, trying to push everything out. He didn't have time to focus on such quandaries. He had to find a way to get his father out of a possible jail sentence. "I'll have to think on that later."

And that he did. It wasn't like he'd done a favor in return to Phantom already.

* * *

Oberon watched the news feed with a glass of scotch in his hands, swirling it slowly. It had been hours since the fight at the school, one of which he'd made sure was publicized and seen by any news network he could drum up on short notice.

One would think that he was seething at the loss, but it was only tepid disappointment, quite honestly. He figured there was a chance that Darkleer would fail at both tasks, especially since Vantas was a goddamn Blood Aspect. Those bastards might be few and far in between, but they were crafty and knew how to make useful friends.

But of course, even the failures produced results of some kind. He made sure that would be the case, whether or not Karkat carved a victory out of nothing.

"Let's check those streaming services again. I'm sure somebody has already made a few clips about it by now." Oberon raised his eyebrows as he browsed Twitch and the other sites he had made sure were online. "Oh, somebody has already made a montage! That was fast."

Oberon was glad that he asked Darkleer to record the fight and livestream it the entire time. Whether or not it ended in someone dead, it was entertaining to watch until the feed cut out when Vantas left a huge hole in the mech. Despite the ghost being an awkward mess, he did know how to put on a show.

A part of him had been disappointed when the audio had been cut off and the video quality started suffering later on, but people saw what they saw. It even made it more believable than having it all crisp and realistic.

Oberon looked at the repeating headline of the local news. Talking about the ghost attack, the mysterious figures, and the mentions of Spades and his research.

He smiled as certain plans fell into place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, the best wins come from what most would consider a loss. Dualscar knows a thing or two about that.
> 
> I'm not entirely sure on how I feel about writing Equis here, but I think I got a good handle on his character. At the very least, I think I have a good angle on what it could be in this case. I always viewed him as a follower with a morally grey personality and pretty self-involved. Of course, that comes in handy for some people when they need it. I hope that makes sense to everyone here.
> 
> Either way, I'll see you next chapter!


	38. Darker Aspects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! How's it going? This next chapter came out better than I thought it would, though I guess that depends on how all of you feel. Hopefully you like what I've got in store for you, because it's a lot more world building.
> 
> I won't say anymore. I'll see you at the end of the chapter!

The Ghost Zone was a peaceful place sometimes, and sometimes that was what Karkat needed after a long day of mayhem. Being Phantom insured that his life had plenty of it, which somehow made the dimension filled with ghosts more palatable to him.

"Hey, Karkles, how often do you actually wash that jumpsuit? I'm surprised I can't smell it from all the way over here."

"I'm pretty sure I've only seen you wear that thing when you're in your ghost form. Don't you have literally anything else?"

Then again, Terezi and Vriska teaming up on him was also a distraction from that calm. He guessed that they were starting to become friends now, which was terrifying beyond belief for him.

"I _do_ wash it, but do you even know how hard it is? Seriously, try and clean a hazmat suit that constantly gets ectoplasm on it." Karkat didn't realize how meticulous his dad had to be in order to keep them clean until he had to look up an instruction manual. "You can't just put that shit in the dryer."

"Maybe Horuss can find a better way to do it. It's not like he's unfamiliar with it thanks to last week." Nepeta stopped before deciding to rescind that offer. "Actually, wait, last time he built something that was meant to wash clothes fast, he ended up flooding his workshop. It smelled nice, but only from a distance."

"Are we going to ignore the fact that Karkat complained about having to clean ectoplasm off of himself? I'm willing, but I think it's worth mentioning." Tavros nervously kept an eye on the halfa as he said this, trying to figure out if some was on his hands right now. "I'd at least like to know if it's yours or someone else's."

"It's usually mine. Not the time to really focus on that, though." Karkat turned to Terezi, giving her an unamused stare. "Where exactly did those ghosts say we needed to meet them at? I'm really hoping this isn't some kind of trap."

They'd finally gotten a response about the Noir ring Dualscar had, hoping to return it to whoever he stole it from. Karkat had taken up the offer to meet them immediately since things out in the human world were crazy right now. Ever since Darkleer decided to livestream their entire fight, people have been going on about it and never letting it go.

Not only was there now video confirmation of ghosts, or at least somethings with powers running about, people collectively lost their shit like the presentation did. Blame was thrown about everywhere, on his dad, the town, or even the government. That didn't even cover how he felt knowing that Phantom was now not just a rumor.

Karkat was not prepared for the memes especially. Nobody ever covered how to deal with your face being the part of the local meme culture in superhero comics.

"As far as we know, we just need to head to the coordinates they sent to us and we'll be able to drop it off no problem. So, of course it's some kind of trap." Terezi just shrugged, handling her cane carefully. "We wouldn't be heading out together otherwise. Either they're legit, or I get a few more arrests."

"And _I_ get some more freedoms after this!" Vriska was starting to get some more leeway now considering her 'good' behavior. They'd even started letting her play a few discrete shows, along with letting Aranea starting her job at the prison. "Man, it'll feel a lot better not having Redglare's boot on my neck."

"I'm pretty sure she'll be glad that she won't need to keep an eye on you anymore either. She complains about you to my mom sometimes." Nepeta laughed as the rocker ghost fumed. "I'm just joking. A little."

Tavros made sure to get out of the blast radius as the two started bickering, moving to Karkat despite the concern earlier.

"Is this just going to be like this for the whole trip?" Tavros did his best not to shiver as Vriska lowered the temperature of the area around them just by getting a little heated. "I'm not sure we'll even survive if they keep this up."

"Just let them tire themselves out. Aranea has been wanting Vriska to make more friends or something." Terezi stopped, checking around the area first before settling. "We're here. Everybody square up."

The place itself really wasn't all that special, more, or less another set of floating rocks. There wasn't a lot of hiding places for anyone to actually ambush them in, but there were a few places they could use. It was honestly a good place for a deal or an exchange, which made it hard to tell if this made anyone feel better about this or not.

"I'm pretty sure this is what setting up a drug deal feels like." Nepeta helpfully added, making things at least a little lighter. "I'm guessing we'll just hide behind some stuff while Karkat makes the deal?"

"Sounds good to me. Let Phantom do all the leg work here." Vriska grabbed Tavros by the back of his shirt, pulling him over to one of the rocks. "Let's have this goody-goody shit done now before I lose it. I have a show to prepare for anyway."

"Hey, don't stretch the tights! I don't know where I'll even get another pair." Tavros tried to struggle, but it was a losing battle as Vriska was still much stronger than him. "At least let me choose where I want to go hide."

Again, protests were ignored. Story of Tavros's life.

Karkat sighed, watching everyone go hide out carefully. Terezi handed him the ring, which he made sure to grip tightly as he moved toward the location itself.

He didn't really know what to do next, considering they made the plan as simple as possible. They assumed that they'd find somebody hiding somewhere already, but since nothing happened pretty much immediately, they assumed that it was not going to be that easy.

"Hey, is anybody out there? I've got that ring you're looking for!" Karkat tried his luck, seeing if he could bait the person out. At the very least, it would provide him an excuse to leave if they bailed on them. "If you want it, you might need to hurry up! I can't just stay here all day!"

…Nothing. Figures. He might be acting a little impatient, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a point that making them wait was rude.

Karkat looked over the ring again, frowning deeply. He would've liked using it as a proper tool, but Dualscar having his dirty paws on it made him hesitant. This thing had been used as a murder weapon, whether or not that murder actually went through.

Besides, it would bring him some more answers about the other halfa anyway. Or at least get him a few more allies. He was a Blood Aspect, so working within those boundaries required socializing with others.

Karkat really hoped that being a friend magnet was an actual thing, otherwise this could get really dicey.

_Bark._

Karkat shifted, turning as he heard the sound of a dog. He didn't see anything, however, only being greeted by empty air.

_Bark._

The halfa looked up and down, starting to get frustrated. He swears to god if this was some type of prank from some rando ghost…

_Bark._

A flash, bright and loud, immediately banished the thought. He was primed for a fight before he actually got a glimpse at what he was looking for.

Karkat likened the dog in front of him to be almost a counterpart to Noir, in virtually every way. The dog was eerily calm, deathly still as it floated in the void of the Infinite Realms. Its fur was pure white, and while it wasn't entirely neat, it certainly looked much more taken care of.

There was also the fact that, instead of rows of teeth, the dog didn't have a face.

"…ok. Dog without a face. I guess it's better than one with too many faces. Or is this worse." Karkat shook his head, looking at one of the floating rocks he figured his friends were hiding behind. "Hey, have any of you seen this dog before?"

Nepeta looked over the rock, squinting at where Karkat was standing. "What dog?"

"Wha- the one standing right here? You know, casually floating in front of me?!" Karkat waved at the no-faced dog. It wasn't being helpful as it just stood there, and he couldn't help but think it was watching him intensely. "It doesn't have a fucking face! How do you not see it?!"

"Is Karkles going insane again?" Terezi didn't even bother looking over the rock. Then again, she was blind, so she wouldn't have been able to see the dog anyway. "Just calm down, Karkat. It's most likely nothing."

Karkat raised his arms briefly before dropping them. He smothered the urge to scream, looking at the dog with a great amount of irritation. It didn't give off any reaction except for tilting its head at him.

"Don't act cute. You're making me look insane." Karkat huffed, keeping his voice lowered. Didn't need to draw more attention to himself. "Must have some type of power that lets you hide from everyone. Like Tavros. Not sure why you're using it _now_ though."

The dog slowly tilted its head back into a straight position, which was honestly really creepy. It then leaned its head forward slowly. It moved a lot like an animatronic, too smooth to have ever been properly alive.

"…You want me to pet you?" Karkat felt his hands twitch, the sudden urge to pet it being quite strong. It did look pretty fluffy. "And why in the world would I do that, exactly? You're the one making me look crazy right now."

The dog didn't move in the slightest. Karkat almost took that for insistence.

"…Fine. I'll pet you, but you have to make yourself appear in front of everyone, got it?" Karkat actually got a nod from that, which made him almost ecstatic. "Hey guys, check this shit out!"

Karkat casually put his hand between the dog's ears, ruffling them softly. The fur was actually quite comfortable, even if it was dulled thanks to his gloves.

He saw Vriska look over, blink and start muttering something along the lines of, "What the fuck?"

And then, with a flash, he disappeared with the dog.

* * *

Kanaya was not proud to say that she had lost sleep the past few days, mostly because she did pride herself on at least having a functioning schedule. She knew she had some flaws, like failing to keep her room organized, sometimes overanalyzing certain things, and maybe meddling in things she shouldn't. She at least kept up a good sleep schedule despite all of that.

Then again, her sleep being disturbed was justified considering ghosts were not only a thing, but one of them might be someone she knew personally. Or, at the very least, had a connecting with.

She did her best not to interfere with that ghost fight between "Phantom" and "Darkleer" as best she could after she followed that ghost to it. Kanaya didn't even know what she could do if she even wanted to interfere. The fact that she was actually witnessing it was enough to put her in a trance.

Kanaya admittedly didn't hear much from the fight, dialogue wise. Considering the mass number of explosions, fire, and general mayhem, it wasn't until the end that she even heard the two friendly(?) ghosts talking.

And refer to the one doing most of the fighting as 'Mr. Vantas."

She may have not taken that as well as she thought.

Kanaya was on her third cup of coffee for today, which was three more than usual. The shop here was a nice place and she really did enjoy it, despite her tastes usually keeping her away from places like this. Her grip on the tablet was tight to prevent the caffeine in her system from making it shake.

She'd spent the day here coming up with a variety of theories and only had three that she could work with that didn't sound too insane.

Theory One: She'd simply misheard what that one ghost had said.

That was the simplest and most possible theory considering the situation had been so chaotic. Not only was there plenty of noise going about, but her sense had been assaulted since she happened upon the fight. Not to mention that, as Occam's Razor would attest, the simplest solution was often the most correct.

On the other hand, it had been awfully quiet when they were talking. And that didn't really sit right with her, something in her gut telling her no. Since she wanted to be thorough, she eventually came up with the second theory…

Theory Two: Phantom is actually Kankri Vantas, Karkat's dad.

_This_ theory was a quite a bit more complicated and admittedly one she didn't want to explore too much. She never actually got to meet Kankri whatsoever, but he was the only other Vantas she knew about. Not to mention that Phantom did seem somewhat familiar, even with a hood and gasmask covering a good amount of his face.

The problem with that was that Phantom was much too young to actually be Kankri. Unless her technical brother was apparently very short for his age, he died much too old to look that young. He had been a father before that, and Phantom couldn't be older than teenager.

And if that theory was true? She would have no idea how to parse out that with her mother, who never truly got over Kankri's death.

This led her down the rabbit hole that was the third one…

Theory Three: Karkat is Phantom.

…This one made a horrible amount of sense in a way. Karkat not only matched physically up to Phantom, but the fact that the ghost was familiar also applied here. He'd have the most access to any ecto-based technology, be able to find the ghosts the quickest, and would probably have access to equipment like a hazmat suit and a gas mask. That wasn't even mentioning the strange interaction Phantom had had with Spades before he disappeared, as if he was desperately trying to get away from him.

The evidence fit, but there was only one major problem to this that undid the knot; Karkat seemed very much alive for a dead person.

Kanaya had stopped at three theories for a reason, mostly because things started to get even stranger. Clones, doppelgangers, and even undead twin came to mind, which she did her best to shut down before she could trick herself into believing them. She focused on psychology in her spare time, not on the other sciences, so she couldn't make such wild accusations.

She needed evidence that either Karkat was dead or alive. She couldn't just point out something like this out of the blue, when he could easily deny it. Medical tests were out the window since that would be an invasion of his privacy, and also way too obvious. And Karkat didn't seem easy to trick. If she could find out exactly what, then she'd… she would…

…She didn't know what she would do. Something, at the very least. If Karkat is dead, there has to be a reason for why it happened.

Again, this would kill her mother if she found out about it.

Kanaya sighed, turning screen of the tablet off for now. She had a plan of action ready anyway, something that would hopefully shed some more light on everything.

She'd been debating on who exactly to go for about this and came up with very few options. Not only was she still a stranger around here, but the people she did know were too close to Karkat in every way. Spades was out due to him being his father. Aradia and Sollux would certainly know what was going on with their friend, but also wouldn't tell her if they thought it would keep him safe. Eridan should've been viable, but something told her he was even less likely to talk.

That's why she chose Feferi.

The ring of a bell caused Kanaya to look up. Feferi was right on schedule.

"Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting and all, but I had to do some things first." Feferi moved into the seat across the other girl. Kanaya really was surprised that she was so nice despite definitely coming from a rich background. "Seriously, I'm not even sure what held me up."

"It's quite alright." Kanaya offered good naturedly. A part of her felt truly guilty that she was going to exploit Feferi's possible crush on Karkat like this. But she needed to know what was going on here. "I wasn't waiting too long."

She hoped that she wouldn't come to regret this.

* * *

Karkat wouldn't say that he woke up. That would imply he fell asleep at some point without knowing it. But that was the feeling he had when the dog had teleported him away from the others.

Karkat instinctively drew breath the moment he felt the world suddenly quicken, and then stop, snatching his hand away from the dog instantly. It was probably only a second, but the feeling seemed to be etched into his mind for an eternity. Something itched at the edge of his brain, trying to remind him of something that he seemed to forget.

He didn't have time to think about it before somebody spoke.

"Huh. I didn't think that would actually work."

The halfa tried to whirl around to face the speaker, but the teleportation had messed with his senses. He nearly tripped over air itself before getting a good look and instantly recognizing who it was.

"Hey, you're one of those assholes with the robes!" Karkat, almost drunkenly, pointed at the girl wearing black and green. He could actually see her face this time, the dark skin, glasses, and dog ears sticking out in his mind. "Did you send your dog to kidnap me?"

"Kidnapped is such a strong word. But accurate!" The ghost didn't make any move to get closer, which was wise. The dog itself appeared right beside her, as if it'd always been there. "Becquerel can't really tell you what he wanted, so you can't really blame him."

"I don't think he's really blaming the dog here."

Karkat looked over to see another one of the robed assholes floating towards them. He didn't whether to be weirded out that a cultist looked like a boyband member wearing douchey sunglasses, but this was happening whether he liked it or not.

"Well, I knew _that._ It's a little thing called humor. It's not the same as irony, or whatever you're doing nowadays." The green one waved at the red one with snort. She looked back at Karkat with a raised eyebrow. "He's a sarcastic little shit. Don't mind him."

"Hey, I'm not sarcastic at all. I'm completely serious, all the time." The red hood pointed his thumbs at himself sarcastically. "I wouldn't _ever _lower myself into being sarcastic."

Karkat just stared at the exchange, unsure of how to process it. An eye twitched and he put his face into his hands. He was kidnapped by lunatics. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"What do you want?" Karkat let out an exhausted sigh. It wouldn't do well to lose his mind right here where no one could find him. "Who even are you? Some kind of cultists? Priests for the Aspects?"

"Close, but also completely wrong." The green one cleared her throat, raising her hands up in a grandiose manner. She made her voice go deeper in a way that made it even harder to take her seriously. "We have many titles you can call us by, young one! We are known as Princes and as Bards! As Witches and as Maids! You might even call us Muses or Lords-"

"I am not calling you any of those things whatsoever." The halfa knew that was rude, but so was kidnapping, so he was just paying it back in kind. He pointed at the green hood and then the red hood. "I'm calling you Jade, and you Dave. Try and make me call you lords, ladies, or masters, and I will cut you."

"Oh, it's because I'm green, isn't it?" Jade scoffed in mock offense, sticking her tongue out at the halfa. "Wow can't believe a superhero judges people based off the colors of their clothes. People would have a field day with that."

"Wait, why am I Dave?" Dave actually seemed offended, putting a hand over his chest. "She gets a decent name that sounds cool, and I get _Dave."_

"Deal with it. Besides, you look like a Dave, so you should just get used to it." Karkat just rolled his eyes as the ghost slumped, looking over at Jade with a raised eyebrow. "And considering I just answered one of my questions for you, I expect you to answer the other one."

"Fine, fine. But only because you've been really funny so far." Jade started floating off the, her dog getting up with her. "Come on, Bec. You too, Dave."

Dave did glare at his friend for a brief second before resigning himself to his new name. Karkat was almost disappointed that he didn't fight back more on it, but at least it got the ball rolling. He, hesitantly, followed behind so they didn't have an excuse to leave him.

The halfa did feel the gravity of the situation fall on him slowly. It may have been joking at first, he was just kidnapped while also not being put into chains. That either made them cocky or powerful, neither of which was good.

"It's more that we're on the powerful side, but we're not going to hurt you. At least, we hope we're not gonna need to." Dave said without looking in his direction. Karkat was startled by this, stopping for a second. "You were going to ask that. Or maybe I read your mind? You figure it out."

Karkat suffocated a growl before it could slip past his lips. They were reaching towards a set of doors with the Space symbol on them, so he decided not to comment.

Though, when the doors opened, he was sorely tempted too.

The state of the lab itself was a place of controlled chaos, with various instruments that he could and couldn't recognize strewn about everywhere. Experiments were either ongoing, already done, or barely started. There was also a bunch of strings on a single table, which Jade immediately went over to, tying some onto one of her fingers.

This was honestly a familiar scene. And so was the one outside of the window.

Karkat could see the Aspect Towers. They were in the same place he saw them the first time, all in the same pattern as before. Except this time they weren't surrounding him. And the Space Tower was missing.

…Fuck, he was inside it.

"Okay," Karkat looked around the room again, making sure Dave and Jade hadn't done something to trap him. Dave was just relaxing as Jade was fiddling with an instrument. "You've proven your point. You're important or something. I'm guessing the ring is yours?"

"The what? Oh, right, that stupid thing." Jade had looked at one of her hands before realizing what they were talking about. Were those supposed to remind of her of certain things? "No, its not ours. But the delivery of it is pretty important to all of us."

"_All_ of us? You're saying there's more than just you two?" Karkat technically knew that already, but that didn't mean he completely threw out the idea that the stuff pre-Fright Knight was just a set of hallucinations just yet. "And what do you mean the delivery of it?"

"That ring isn't exactly a game breaker by any means if that's what you're wondering. It's nothing to laugh at, but definitely nothing too terrifying." Dave moved towards the window, looking out of it thoughtfully. "You asked us if we were cultists earlier. We're not. But we do serve an ultimate goal here."

"And that is?" Karkat really didn't want to ask anymore questions than he already has. But speaking in riddles made it a consequence. "I'm not going to do anything you say unless you give me an explanation of some kind."

The two looked at each other before sighing deeply.

"We know. We can only give you short rundown, though." Jade moved toward the window, waving her hand. The view changed, the window darkening until it turned into a black screen. A line formed on it, eventually branching off into other ones. "I'm sure you're already familiar with time travel and alternate universes. In a way, that's what we're concerned about."

"By that she means we're concerned about this one. The one we technically live in." Dave lazily pointed to one of the lines, which continued branching off more and more. "We make sure that it doesn't become a Doomed Timeline. Do I have to explain what that is?"

Karkat watched a few branches thin before eventually dying off. They disappeared from the screen soon enough, new ones forming in their wake.

"No," Karkat gulped, the message being completely clear. "I don't think you do."

"Good. You'd be surprised to know that _preventing_ a Doomed Timeline from occurring is a lot harder than you'd think. While time and space branch off multiple times, not all of them survive." Jade huffed in annoyance, though it only mask. Karkat figured that it was more than that judging from her glare at the screen. "Certain timelines are really fickle about what they want to occur. Even if something appears to be good, it can be seen as a violation of what the timeline actually wants."

"And trust me, you don't want to know what happens when it starts to go bad." The screen flickered at Dave's interjection, showing…_ something._ It felt like Karkat's head was filled with static again. "A lot of different factors to consider and a strict deadline for some meant that we had to bring you here."

"…Because I need to deliver the ring to the right person. Or at least do it the right way." Karkat wasn't totally sure if he believed them, but the fact that he wasn't strapped to a lab table made sure to give them the benefit of the doubt. "And you couldn't tell me this because?"

"You could say that the presentation was needed for this. You know, certain things need to be shown in order to be believed." Jade shrugged. It wasn't a satisfying explanation, but more than he expected. "We just need to make sure you know how important this is. You delivering the ring changes more than you'd think, and the fact you already decided to return it has set some stuff in motion."

"And we want to make sure that it goes well. Which meant making sure the gravity of it got to you first." Dave leaned against a wall casually. "No pressure, of course."

"Yeah, none whatsoever. If that's the case then, maybe you tell me where to bring it? I certainly don't have a clue." Karkat pointed at them accusingly, narrowing his eyes as well. "And I mean actually leading me there visibly with the others. I'm not going to look crazy anymore in front of them."

"Fair enough." Dave didn't even put up a fight, moving off the wall. He did get close for a few seconds, voice becoming serious. "Remember; we aren't joking about any of this. One thing goes wrong…"

Karkat saw Dave's form flicker between a child, a teenager, and an adult version of himself. All of them looked wounded, damaged in some kind of way. It sent a message.

"Crystal. Can somebody send me back now?" Karkat wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. "I'm ninety percent sure my friends are going to be panicking if they don't hear from me soon enough. Even if I have to suffer some jokes about being kidnapped by a dog."

"Sure. Bec, can you take him back where he was? His friends are going to be worried." Becquerel responded to Jade's call, appearing beside the halfa instantly. "Make sure to close your eyes when he starts glowing. You'll see things you don't want to if you don't."

Karkat wordlessly touched the top of Bec's head, disappearing in a glow of green light. The two were relieved at how well the meeting went. Dave sent a look towards Jade.

"You think we're doing the right thing here? Trusting him to do this?" Dave squeezed a hand on the handle of his sword, which he'd been able to hide the entire time. "I know this was my idea, but level with me here."

"We won't know anything until this is all over. We'll have to wait." Jade had supported this plan, even if some of the others hadn't. "He didn't attack us on sight, so maybe we'll probably be fine."

"Yeah. Yeah, you got a point." Dave sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "Just a lot of things to consider. A lot of ways it could go down even before some of the more crucial bits."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If we're in a Doomed Timeline, we'll know it and be able to prepare for it." Jade clapped her friend on the back with a big smile. "Isn't that right, _Dave?"_

The glare she received was worth any silent treatment he was going to give here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this one is kinda going to be an original arc on its own. It will contain some elements of what would turn out to be a later episode (and I mean season three later) but otherwise will be something new. I'm not sure how it'll play out, but judging from how I paced this, it will be a four parter.
> 
> Either way, other than this, I do have some stuff planned for some of my readers. Make sure to keep an eye out, but I won't say anything until I figure out some of the logistics.
> 
> Either way, I hope you all enjoy and that I see you all next chapter.


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